Prisoner
by astridzeogearfried
Summary: my version of mike and mal's backstory and the prisoner isn't who you think...ok mostly my version of MAL'S backstory but, 'ya know, same diff.
1. Chapter 1 abuse

Mike and Mal's backstory

Mike age 8: One morning in early august, 8 year old Mike had just got a disturbing wake up call. Some police officers had just barged into his room and grabbed Mike by his arms as they swiftly lifted him out of his bed. He only truly woke up once he was in the cop car, buckled in, with his mom right beside him. he had bruises on his cheek a well as along down his arms, which raised the quick question,"mom...where's dad?" He said as he was eyeing her own bruises and cuts along some of her arms and legs. They both had been abused by his father for at least a few years. That was when his personalities began to appear. At school this both helped him and hurt him. Once kids found out about his Multiple Personality Disorder, the bullying started. He was kicked and punched by bullies just as he was by his father. Everyone refused to help him, even his friends wouldn't intervene. On the other hand, he had straight A's in P.E. thanks to Svetlana. Manitoba's smarts got him good grades in Social Studies and Science. Vito helped him fend off bullies with his keen muscles and fighting capabilities, though it often earned him a detention. His personalities were both helpful and trouble making. Vito's always picking fights, Manitoba's a Sexist, Chester(his "grumpy old man" personality) annoyed everyone with his constant complaining. The bullies call him a wuss because Svetlana's a girl. But for some reason,at home, when he was getting beat by his father, just when he needed them most, they disappeared.

Mike was spacing out in the cop car while his mom was looking in the other direction, sobbing. He looked down and shockingly saw his knuckles were bruised. "It couldn't of been vito, when his fights are over his knuckles are only red-ish, never bruised", Mike thought. He then had a flashback to last night in order to try and figure out what happened.

~Flashback~

"WHERE ARE 'YA, 'YA LITTLE $#% "?! Mike's dad yelled furiously. Mike, meanwhile, was shaking in a ball holding himself behind the refrigerator, sobbing, trying to hold in the sniffles in order to remain silent. When all of a sudden… He heard a blade being drawn. Mik knew what was going to happen. "He's never been this violent before…, not even when he was drunk…" Mike thought, looking at a small bruise on his upper right arm. This time it's different. "oooh Miiiiiikeeeeeeyyy." his father said , now walking towards the fridge. Mike was getting scarder and scarder by the second. until…"MICHAEL!" He hit the fridge with all his might. The fridge started to wobble, from the position Mike was in, it could instantly flatten him. The wobbling made Mike scream in horror, "NOOOOOO"!... Then all of a sudden a large gasp escaped causing a spasm but then quickly relaxed, the same reaction he gets when one of his personalities take control. Mike didn't know this one. Mike soon woke up in his subconscious feeling uneasy. He saw his personas beside him with a comforting smile. "Guys what's going on he-" "shh" Vito said, Manitoba then spoke," everything's goin' to be alright now, mate."he said ruffling his hair. "But if you're all here then who's-" Mike paused pointing at the sky. "Mike lay down" Svetlana said with her hand behind his back and the other near his heart, lowering him to the ground.

Manitoba put his hand above Mike's eyes to close them, he did so and then his smile matched theirs as he fell asleep comfortably by his best friends.

~On the outside~

Mike's father started walking closer and closer to behind the fridge, where Mike was. Still in his ball only,...his head was down, face hidden. When his father finally found him, his head,instead of slowly rising, it just jumped right up like a spring. Surprising his dad. When he got a second look at his son's face it looked….different. Mike's eyes quickly flashed open revealing dark circles under them as his pupils instantly went from light brown to jet black. Then a flap of hair fell right over his left eye, a wide grin spread across his face. His teeth looked much sharper than before, almost like a shark making him look even more sinister. intimidating his father, he was almost fearful of his son…"Mike?"... His father knew about his other personalities. He was the one who had to always pick one of "them" up from the principal's office because they got in a fight. At home, he most commonly saw Vito after Mike was out of the shower (Vito is summoned when Mike's shirt is off). This always made him stressed, and so, he took out his frustration on the "problem" itself. Whenever Mike gasped, he'd ask who he was talking to. "Sorry, Mike's not here at the moment." the boy said in a dark and brooding voice, his father didn't recognize it. "Who am I talking to right now?" Mike's dad asked hesitantly. The boy was now standing only his face was once again hidden,

""who am I?"" the boy began to chuckle,"...I'm your worst nightmare…" The boy said as he lunged at his father, giving him no time to react to the previous statement or escape. The boy yanked the knife out of his father's tight grasp with frightening ease. His father had fallen to the ground with the knife weilding child on top of him, holding the knife above his head, in the form to stab him. Just then, his mother had woken up from a recent slam to the head as she stumbled out of bed. She began walking down the hall leading to the kitchen. She'd heard disturbing sounds coming from there making her hesitent to find out what the source of it was. Half way down the hall she heard maniacle laughter as she saw a silhouette of what appeared to be a small body on top of a larger one. The smaller one with a knife in hand. This had to be her husband and son. The knife swung down, she closed her eyes after she heard the loud sound of impalement and blood splatter. She heard it only once more before rushing into the kitchen to find her son covered in blood on top of a body in a larger puddle of the same liquid. The boy didn't notice his frozen speechless mother as he began punching his father's face repeatedly. both his knuckles and his father's cheek were badly bruised. It didn't take long before his father was knocked out that his mother sceamed bloody murder. "MIKE!" she ran to him and grabbed his arm that he was punching him with. The boy slowly turned his head to face his mother. She was horrified at what she saw. His dark eyes seemed to see right through her. He grinned an evil grin, "call the police, he'll be gone for a while...mommy" She slapped him in fear for herself and to hopefully wake up her son. Now the blood splatters on his face had been smeared as well as on to his mother's hand. His head was stuck in place where he got slapped. He stood up and got off of his comatose father only to step into a small pool of blood, "It's okay mommy, really. You'll see Mike again when I wake up tomorrow morning." His mom was just speechless and perfectly still. "He'll be locked up for a long time...after what he did to us…" he said with a scowl at his father after studying his bruises and his mother's cuts and bandages. He then yawned and started walking back to his room to sleep...but not before he purposely dropped the bloody knife right in front of his mother. He took off his shoes to at least keep the carpet clean and bloody stained free. He left it up to his mother to clean up the dark, disturbing scene, he chuckled as he walked out of the room. After he'd fallen asleep he went straight to his subconscious by Mike and the other personas. "He's gonna be alright, I wouldn't kill his dad and you know it." He said to the personalities. They sighed in relief because now Mike was safe. Mike began to wake up, surrounded by his personalities. He smiled and then he saw a boy who looked just like him. Before Mike woke up the boy's eyes went from black to brown, like Mike's. The dark circles faded away, his teeth no longer looked vicious and instead he now had a kind smile on his face. "Who are you?" Mike said sitting up. "I'm Mal, I'm your new best friend." Mal said, offering his hand to help Mike up. When Mike grabbed it, it was like no one was there anymore but the two boys and an instant connection had just formed. They both smiled and hugged each other, "c'mon Mike, let's play!" Mal said, dragging Mike away from the scene.

~Meanwhile~

As Mike thought about this he started to feel drowsy, he was about to fall asleep until he looked at his saddened mother who apeared to be deep-in-thought. He looked down at her hands and gasped. 'MOM! THERE'S DRIED BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS!" She then immediatly snapped out of what seemed like a spell and quickly hid her hands in hopes to keep her son innocent toward the problem. They started coming closer to the jail, where his father now was, in the infirmary. Mike was always nervous about prisons, it reminded him of detention and how nerve racking it was. His mother took notice but didn't know how to really calm him down since she knew where they were going…, to see his father. When they finally got to the prison gates they had to get out of the car and go through a security scanning, when they were done they were escorted into the building and led to the infirmary. Where his father was firmly planted at the talking booth, phone in hand as his wife and son walked up to the booth and sat down. when his father saw mike, he started trembling and grabbed one of the passing guards, "I can't do it...TAKE ME BACK TO MY CELL, PLEASE!" the guard just looked at him funny and walked away. He turned to his wife and son, both wearing a confused face since they couldn't hear through the glass. just then, when his mother wasn't looking, he caught a quick glimpse of his son gasping. Just then, his hair flapped over his eye again and he knew that right then he was facing his true attacker, Mal. Mal then flipped his hair back up to look like mike, he then told his mother that he'd like to talk to his father alone. His mother reluctantly agreed, assuming she was actually talking to mike with his sweet-hearted, child like voice, identical to mike's real voice. She left the room and once he looked both ways, making sure the coast was clear, his hair flapped over his eye once more as he slowly picked up the phone, "why, it's nice to see you again papa." Mal said in a sarcastic mocking tone, in his real voice."Just the place I thought would be the best home…" mal paused as he then changed his tone from sarcastic to dark deadly serious, his father started trembling. "FOR SCUM LIKE YOU!" there was a look of burning hate and despise in his eyes directed straight at his father that, if solid, could pierce the glass and shoot right through his heart. His father began to sweat, as his salty wet sweat started towards his gause and on to his wound, he twitched in pain, holding the screams. "Listen son, I promise I'll never hurt you or your mother again, I never truly meant to hurt you, I was frustrated and irresponsible and you know I would never do it on purpose-" "BULLSHIT!, YOU LYING SON OF A-" "Listen,... if you were to support me in court then I might be able to make up for all those lost years with you and start things over with my son that I lo-" "no...ALL YOU CARED ABOUT WAS YOURSELF! YOU NEVER GAVE A SHIT ABOUT MOM OR MIKE,... just because you can't even try to understand your own son's issues doesn't mean you have to beat us HAVE...TO...DEATH!" mal yelled slamming his hand on to the desk, he then rolled up one of his sleeves to reveal a large scar and some bruises. "YOU SEE THIS…, THIS, IS YOUR DOING!" "you're right, it's my fault...but one question, I know you're not one of mike's usual personalities,...so...who ARE you, really?!"

"I'm...Mal…and I'll never EVER let you get out of here until I see with my own eyes, your rotting half bloody flesh falling off of your moldy skeleton in a dark spider web infested corner!" Mal said with a look in his cold eyes that he was dead serious, making his father tremble. "Mal?...no...mike, can you hear me, if so-" "SHUT UP!" mal yelled at the top of his lungs cutting off his father, mal bent down holding his head shaking it in a frantic convulsion. "Dad?" the boy said looking up slowly, revealing it was his real son. "Mike!" his father jumped up, the guards took notice and started wondering what was going on in that conversation. Just then mike's mom walked in looking fairly uneasy,...she'd been listening in by the door. Once she saw mike sitting down calmly in a slightly almost blissful silence between the two, though his father was still sweating and trembling, seeing his wife he tried to control himself. "Hand me the phone,honey" she said to mike, he handed her the phone as he jumped off the chair and went up to one of the guards asking where the bathroom was, he just escorted him out out the room and led him to the bathroom. Meanwhile, the slow conversation between the couple finally began, "you already know what's coming...I'm going to get the divorce papers soon and the custody papers as well, only when I allow it, will I let mike see you again." "YOU BITCH! you can't keep me away from my only son!" he pointed at her angrily, his voice of calm ease had changed to drastic frustration and anger. "This is EXACTLY why I don't want you around mike, your patience is too thin!" his wife angrily replied. "When I'M around my son, I'm perfectly calm, HE'S MY CHILD TOO!" "YOU NEVER CARED FOR HIM AS A SON, JUST A PUNCHING BAG, WHEN YOU'RE DRUNK!" she yelled back. "YOU SHUT THE HELL UP, I CARE ABOUT MY SON JUST AS MUCH AS YOU...IF NOT, MORE!" He spat back. The woman was so shocked at his obvious lie that she just hung up the phone with the same stunned look on her face, as her son walked back into the visiting room, her face quickly turned to absolute hatred. Mike just looked back at his mom and his dad with a confused look on his face. His mom then grabbed mike by his arm and began to drag him out of the room with police escort and her husband was being pulled away from the booth, but before they both left, they turned their heads to face each other for one last second. Mike's mom had a look of disgust and pity toward her now, locked up husband, mike's dad had a vengeful look on his face and muttered the words; "I'm gonna get you...AND mike." then before they knew it, they were already in the police car being driven home. As mike got in the car, he was quickly switched out back to mal as he glanced back at the prison and snickered, "told 'ya so...daddy."Mal whispered, mike's mom had just barely heard it but still decided to stay quiet...until they were back at their house in which they were dropped off. Once they were safely inside, mike's mom knelt down to the point that they were eye-to-eye and all she saw were cold devilish eyes. "What did you tell your father,..I heard yelling." "My father?"...no I think you're mistaking that old bastard for a relative of mine." "What...did you...tell...him?!" his mother said, starting to grow impatient. "Just that I won't support his case of denial in the court,...the poor sap was begging me. HA! as if! he was clearly asking the wrong person." "personality...personality, you mean…" "NO, NO...I'M NOT...I'M REAL...I'M REAL DAMMIT!" mal yelled running to his room, away from his mom. He dove under the covers to go to sleep, to his mind.

There he found himself in a bed in a plain room. All it had was a mirror, bed, and a desk, mal went over to the mirror and saw that he had tears in his eyes and rolling down his cheeks, he was surprised at this, he didn't know why he was crying, and he'd never cried before. Just then mal heard a knock on the door, he wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve and answered the door. It was mike, "hey mal wanna play soldier, we already got the base, artillery, and fort ready. we need more men...especially if we're gonna defeat manny and vito." This made mal smile and giggle a little. "Sounds like fun, where is it?" "follow me" mike said excitedly and started heading off to the base, mal followed close behind, running, then a question popped in his head "then which side is svetlana on?!" mal said , already starting to get into the mood of the game. "Svetlana's our defense, you and I are offense." mike replied then the two entered the battlefield. Manitoba noticed their entry and began to fire, "DUCK!" mike yelled, pulling mal down with him, they had to get to the base as quickly as possible. Svetlana was using her gymnastic skills to dodge. She saw the two boys enter the zone and mike signalled her to get to the base. The three jumped in, avoiding the firing. In the center of the base there was a table with what looked like to be a blueprint on top with one light source above. Mal couldn't help but giggle a little at how serious the game was getting. The three all ran to the table at once where the blank paper lay as mike grabbed a pen and all of us were looking at what we assumed would be our Battle Strategy. "Alright mal, you're colonel, I'm general, and svetlana, you're lieutenant. Mal, the scenario is that we're the rebels and manitoba and vito are the kingdom dictators out to destroy us. Now then-..." mike paused after mal nodded in understanding, then proceeded on to drawing out their plan. The other two then looked down at the paper with immense concentration and focus as mike described his drawings: "Okay, svetlana you protect the base meanwhile mal and I will split up to attack from the sides to get their ammo." Mike said, mal chimed in, "Or what if svetlana were to distract vito and manitoba and as they directed their attention towards her we could sneak up from behind and then-" "AYE HURRY IT UP...OR WE'LL INVADE!" Manitoba warned, everyone gasped at the same time. "OK we'll go with mal's idea, now HURRY!" svetlana ran out of the base as manitoba and vito started shooting at her, she dodged every one as mal and mike ran quickly to the back. once they were behind the two, mal and mike quietly giggled. Manitoba's keen senses kicked in when he heard the boys laughing and immediately turned his weapon on them, mal and mike held each other in fear as they shrieked, vito finally heard them and turned his weapon on them as well. Mike began to sweat as he tried to negotiate with them, "Manny, Vito, c'mon let's not be too harsh-" "QUIT CALLIN' ME MANNY!" manitoba yelled, the two boys were starting to get nervous...until they saw svetlana sneaking up behind them… "NOW SVETLANA!" svetlana then put the two in a headlock, making them drop their weapons. Mike and mal took this opportunity and dove for the weapons and the ammo then quickly fled back to the fort. Svetlana let go and did the same as the general and colonel, she leaped over and into the fort, landing next to mal, startling him. Svetlana decided to take over in the order giving department. since the last plan went code red. "Ok ve both know zat manitoba und vito have very short tempers, it iz only a matter of time before zhey use physical violence and charge uz-" "but we have the advantage, we got their weapons AND ammunition, what's there to worry about?" mal asked, confused, mike nodded in agreement with mal's question, also confused. "Timing, it'z everysinc, zhey vill charge uz soon, ve must be stealthy. Mike, mal…load za veapons, hurry!" Neither of them hesitated for a second to start taking orders from a girl, mostly because of the circumstances as they loaded their weapons, they heard the starting bell- " CHAAAAARGE!" Vito and manitoba yelled in sync as they ran to the fort. Svetlana told them exactly how to attack them:which ever person is toward your side, that's the one you hit, aim for the face or forehead! They did as their leader said and immediately took aim, fired, hit their designated targets perfectly, and they fell over like trees, Just like svetlana said. "That was awesome, thanks svetlana!" mike said happily, "ha ha, we should listen to her more often!" mal said pleased. "Hey I just realized something…"mike said to mal, "what?"mal wondered, "where's chester?" Just then, the two heard footsteps coming behind them, they turned around only to get hit and knocked out cold with his cane. "Alright, now, svetlana take the two whippersnappers to their room." Chester commanded, svetlana picked up the sleeping boys and carried them as if they were sleeping babies, svetlana felt like a mom, taking care of the two boys. Vito and manitoba got up fast since they pretended to get hit and let them win. "So now that that's out of the way…, who wants to take control?" Chester asked. "Me, I heard that mike missed lunch, and you guys know that I always have a big appetite." Manitoba said to the both of them. "Mal's been hoggin' all the control lately." Vito said, annoyed. "Fine, go at it, manny". Chester said, completely ignoring vito's statement. Manitoba snickered at vito, knowing he'd be jealous. He snapped his fingers and disappeared.

~On the outside~

Manitoba woke up in mike's bed and started to head toward the kitchen. He smelled something tasty as his stomach growled. He walked in on mike's mom stirring soup, "G'day sheila, dinner's smellin' great!" She was a bit startled, she almost dropped the ladle. "I's awlright, just me." Manitoba said, a bit quieter than before. "Manitoba?!" Mike's mom said in surprise. "Yep" he said, reaching for his favorite fedora by the door on an upper shelf. "Let me help 'ya with that-" she grabbed the fedora and placed it on manitoba's head, he adjusted it of course so that it was more tilted forward, just the way he liked it. Mike's mom giggled at his strict attention to detail, "anyway it's gumbo that's in the pot." "Oh...well then...better serve me up three bowls in that case, I'm mighty hungry." Manitoba stated, rubbing his stomach. "Alright, sit down I'll get the bowls-" "no no, let me." Manitoba started for the cabinet. His mother just watched giggling as she saw manitoba working his strategy; He started pulling drawers, being an 8 year old, light-weighted boy, he knew that the drawers could support him. Manitoba began crawling up on the drawers almost like stepping stones. He got up to the counter and finally got the bowls, he put them under his hat for safe keeping. His mom was just sitting at the table amused at what her 8 year old son can do. Manitoba decided to go down the "fun way", he grabbed on to one of the wings on the moving fan. It flung him toward the table and he landed right on top of it, scaring his mother. "Must you do that…I thought only that russian girl would do something so athletic as launching onto a fan and landing on a table without tumbling." "Svetlana", manitoba said with an annoyed look. He was expressing the face of a stubborn child, making his mother laugh, "whatever…*chuckle*...want some gumbo, I'll set up the rest of the table." Manitoba sat down at the chair on the other side of the table, arms stubbornly crossed, pouting as his mother started getting out spoons and glasses of milk since the gumbo was hot. Manitoba looked at the glass of milk in front of him and slid it away with a cocky grin, "heh, I don't need no glass of milk for something that I bet will only tingle the tongue a bit, I can take it...easy." "Oh, well in that case-" she reached for the cabinet to her right and pulled out a red bottle, she hid the label with her hand to surprise manitoba since he was being a "smart-mouth" to her cooking. Once the gumbo was poured into the bowl, the scent was so spicy that he had to pinch his nose, he got over it and kept the sneer on his face as he took a big spoonful of the gumbo and took one big bite. Manitoba was paused in movement, the heat instantly ran up his entire body as he profusely began to sweat, his face turned bright red. He swallowed and started panting like a worn out dog. "Hot enough for 'ya?...need some milk?" His mother said waving his undrinken full glass. "OK..YOU WERE RIGHT! YOUR GUMBO IS EXTREMELY HOT...NOW PLEASE GIVE ME THE MILK!" Manitoba begged, his mother giggled at her accomplishment and handed manitoba the milk. He quickly ate the 3 bowls that he promised his mother he'd eat and then chugged down 2 tall glasses of milk in under 40 minutes.

It had been a long day but mike's mom had finally mustered up the courage to ask what seemed like a simple question, "so manitoba, where's mike?" Manitoba put down his now empty glass with his tongue out and answered slowly, curious of the response. "He's...sleeping...in here-" manitoba said, pointing at his head. "Where is "here"'? His mother asked, getting slightly worried. "In his room, but don't worry, he's ok. Svetlana's taking care of them-" "what do you mean "them"'? She was almost shaking at what the answer might be, manitoba wasn't quite used to this kind of pressure and eventually gave in, "svetlana is taking care of mike and mal while they're sleeping, b-but they're ok, really, just a little bump on their heads is all." Manitoba said, awkwardly laughing while his mom's mouth had dropped down to the table, "MAL?!" His mother choked. "What's wrong with mal, he's really nice. Hate to admit it but even vito and I had a lot of fun playing Soldier." Manitoba giggled, His mother was not amused, "dammit...now you tell me, is he safe?!" "Of course he's fine, everyone's in the room with them, those two have been tucked in and are sleeping like babies." "You go tell this 'mal'-whatever to get the hell away from my child or so help me god-" his mother angrily said, gripping both of his arms and kneeling down to a face-to-face level, making manitoba nervous.

~In the subconscious~

Mal shot up from the bed like a bullet, startling svetlana and chester. "Mal, what's wrong?" svetlana asked with little emotion. "Something is VERY wrong…, it's manitoba...ow-", mal fell to his knees, gripping his head. He glared at chester who was behind him whistling without making eye contact, his cane behind his back. "NOOOO!" Mike screamed as he was tumbling around on the bed, sweating and wrapped in the covers like a cocoon, only his shaking head was visible. "Mike!" mal yelled worriedly, running over to his friend to try and wake him up. Svetlana looked at chester with a worried glare, he began to feel guilty at what he'd done. "Mike! mike! mike! mike! mike! mike please wake up!" "DADDY! DADDY! DADDY! NO! NO PLEASE...AAAAAAAAHHH!" Mike screamed in his sleep at the top of his lungs. Mal knew exactly what his nightmare was, it was the time that he got the worst beat of his life, it was the day that mal was born.

~Two years ago~

Mike was just getting off of the bus at school. He just wanted to get through the day unnoticed. Ever since the kids found out about his multiple personality disorder, he got bullied regularly. He started finding ways to maneuver around it; He never raised his hand, used process of elimination when he had to get a partner for a project, whenever given the chance he'd sit in the far corners of the classroom. However, this lowered his participation grade and so whenever he got his grades to hand over to his parents, his father would be waiting by the door so that he could be the first to see them. He'd go to bed with bruises on his face and arms. He was sick and tired of the routine but almost everyday the kids would leave him alone until the class had free time or lunch and recess, he'd try to outrun them but they always caught up. But this day was different, almost immediately all the kids spotted him and began running towards him, he started running as fast as he could to get inside the building and get to the principals office. They were faster, they all pounced on him, their immense weight knocked the wind out of him as he was face flat on a pile of dirt. One of the kids yanked his head up by his hair, "why don't one of your little personalities come to help you, huh?" They got off him and stole his shirt, he gasped and became vito. "So...ya guys been itchin' for a fight lately, huh, tough guy." Vito said as he grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt, lifting him off the ground. He smirked and vito smirked, the other kids stepped back knowing a gruesome battle was about to proceed. The girls started walking off the bus and gathered around as the other kids did so as well. The two took off their backpacks and vito put the boy down, his name was nick and all the kids separated into their designated sides: Girl's on vito's side, boy's on nick's side. "Let's rumble!" Vito declared as the two lunged at each other, causing a huge dirt cloud to rise up from the dry dusty ground, blocking sight of the two boys. The girls held their breath as they felt the tension rise, "BREAK IT UP YOU TWO!" a man yelled, all the kids turned around in shock as the dust cleared, it was to be revealed as the principal. When he looked down, he saw vito on top of nick who was covered in bruises and bumps, vito only had a couple but he didn't notice the principal walking up as vito delivered the finishing blow, knocking nick completely comatose. The principal had a disappointed look on his face as he swiftly grabbed vito's hand, pulling it back, bringing him to his feet before he could strike again. The man yanked vito to the office by his ear, before he could retrieve his shirt and backpack. After they made it to the office, vito rubbed his sore ear and thus, the lecture began; "That's the third time this week mike." "eh yo, it's VITO."... "Ugh, yes that's right. I nearly forgot-", The principal stuttered. "Disrespect 'da vito and you're gonna get a beat down!" Vito said holding his tight, clenched fist in his hand. "OK THAT'S IT!" The principal scolded, "IT'S ONLY BARELY DAYLIGHT, NOT EVEN 9'O CLOCK AND YOU...YOU'RE ALREADY GETTING INTO FIGHTS! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH YOU ANYMORE!" Vito stepped back in shock,

8


	2. chapter 2 anger issues

As Mike thought about this he started to feel drowsy, he was about to fall asleep until he looked at his saddened mother who apeared to be deep-in-thought. He looked down at her hands and gasped. 'MOM! THERE'S DRIED BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS!" She then immediatly snapped out of what seemed like a spell and quickly hid her hands in hopes to keep her son innocent toward the problem. They started coming closer to the jail, where his father now was, in the infirmary. Mike was always nervous about prisons, it reminded him of detention and how nerve racking it was. His mother took notice but didn't know how to really calm him down since she knew where they were going…, to see his father. When they finally got to the prison gates they had to get out of the car and go through a security scanning, when they were done they were escorted into the building and led to the infirmary. Where his father was firmly planted at the talking booth, phone in hand as his wife and son walked up to the booth and sat down. when his father saw mike, he started trembling and grabbed one of the passing guards, "I can't do it...TAKE ME BACK TO MY CELL, PLEASE!" the guard just looked at him funny and walked away. He turned to his wife and son, both wearing a confused face since they couldn't hear through the glass. just then, when his mother wasn't looking, he caught a quick glimpse of his son gasping. Just then, his hair flapped over his eye again and he knew that right then he was facing his true attacker, Mal. Mal then flipped his hair back up to look like mike, he then told his mother that he'd like to talk to his father alone. His mother reluctantly agreed, assuming she was actually talking to mike with his sweet-hearted, child like voice, identical to mike's real voice. She left the room and once he looked both ways, making sure the coast was clear, his hair flapped over his eye once more as he slowly picked up the phone, "why, it's nice to see you again papa." Mal said in a sarcastic mocking tone, in his real voice. "Just the place I thought would be the best home…" mal paused as he then changed his tone from sarcastic to dark deadly serious, his father started trembling. "FOR SCUM LIKE YOU!" there was a look of burning hate and despise in his eyes directed straight at his father that, if solid, could pierce the glass and shoot right through his heart. His father began to sweat, as his salty wet sweat started towards his gause and on to his wound, he twitched in pain, holding the screams. "Listen son, I promise I'll never hurt you or your mother again, I never truly meant to hurt you, I was frustrated and irresponsible and you know I would never do it on purpose-" "BULLSHIT!, YOU LYING SON OF A-" "Listen,... if you were to support me in court then I might be able to make up for all those lost years with you and start things over with my son that I lo-" "no...ALL YOU CARED ABOUT WAS YOURSELF! YOU NEVER GAVE A SHIT ABOUT MOM OR MIKE,... just because you can't even try to understand your own son's issues doesn't mean you have to beat us HAVE...TO...DEATH!" mal yelled slamming his hand on to the desk, he then rolled up one of his sleeves to reveal a large scar and some bruises. "YOU SEE THIS…, THIS, IS YOUR DOING!" "you're right, it's my fault...but one question, I know you're not one of mike's usual personalities,...so...who ARE you, really?!"

"I'm...Mal…and I'll never EVER let you get out of here until I see with my own eyes, your rotting half bloody flesh falling off of your moldy skeleton in a dark spider web infested corner!" Mal said with a look in his cold eyes that he was dead serious, making his father shake with horror. "Mal?...no...mike, can you hear me, if so-" "SHUT UP!" mal yelled at the top of his lungs cutting off his father, mal bent down holding his head shaking it in a frantic convulsion. "Dad?" the boy said looking up slowly, revealing it was his real son. "Mike!" his father jumped up, the guards took notice and started wondering what was going on in that conversation. Just then mike's mom walked in looking fairly uneasy,...she'd been listening in by the door. Once she saw mike sitting down calmly in a slightly almost blissful silence between the two, his father was still sweating and trembling. After seeing his wife he tried to control himself. "Hand me the phone,honey" she said to mike, he handed her the phone as he jumped off the chair and went up to one of the guards asking where the bathroom was, he just escorted him out out the room and led him to the bathroom. Meanwhile, the slow conversation between the couple finally began, "you already know what's coming...I'm going to get the divorce papers soon and the custody papers as well, only when I allow it, will I let you see mike again." "YOU BITCH! you can't keep me away from my only son!" he pointed at her angrily, his voice of calm ease had changed to drastic frustration and anger. "This is EXACTLY why I don't want you around mike, your patience is too thin!" his wife angrily replied. "When I'M around my son, I'm perfectly calm, HE'S MY CHILD TOO!" "YOU NEVER CARED FOR HIM AS A SON, JUST A PUNCHING BAG, WHEN YOU'RE DRUNK!" she yelled back. "YOU SHUT THE HELL UP, I CARE ABOUT MY SON JUST AS MUCH AS YOU...IF NOT, MORE!" He spat back. The woman was so shocked at his obvious lie that she just hung up the phone with the same stunned look on her face, as her son walked back into the visiting room, her face quickly turned to absolute hatred. Mike just looked back at his mom and his dad with a confused look on his face. His mom then grabbed mike by his arm and began to drag him out of the room with police escort and her husband was being pulled away from the booth, but before they both left, they turned their heads to face each other for one last second. Mike's mom had a look of disgust and pity toward her now locked up husband, mike's dad had a vengeful look on his face and muttered the words; "I'm gonna get you...AND mike." then before they knew it, they were already in the police car being driven home. As mike got in the car, he was quickly switched out back to mal as he glanced back at the prison and snickered, "told 'ya so...daddy."Mal whispered, mike's mom had just barely heard it but still decided to stay quiet...until they were back at their house in which they were dropped off. Once they were safely inside, mike's mom knelt down to the point that they were eye-to-eye and all she saw were cold devilish eyes. "What did you tell your father,..I heard yelling." "My father?"...no I think you're mistaking that old bastard for a relative of mine." "What...did you...tell...him?!" his mother said, starting to grow impatient. "Just that I won't support his case of denial in the court,...the poor sap was begging me. HA! as if! he was clearly asking the wrong person." "personality...personality, you mean…". Mal had a sickened, upset look on his face, he paused as his face turned to anger…, "NO, NO...I'M NOT...I'M REAL...I'M REAL DAMMIT!" mal yelled running to his room, away from his mom. He dove under the covers to go to sleep, to his mind.


	3. chapter 3 soldiers of the mind

Mal had found himself on a bed in a plain room. All it had was a mirror, bed, and a desk, mal went over to the mirror and saw that he had tears in his eyes and rolling down his cheeks, he was surprised at this, he didn't know why he was crying, and he'd never cried before. Just then mal heard a knock on the door, he wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve and answered the door. It was mike, "hey mal wanna play soldier, we already got the base, artillery, and fort ready. we need more men...especially if we're gonna defeat manny and vito." This made mal smile and giggle a little. "Sounds like fun, where is it?" "follow me" mike said excitedly and started heading off to the base, mal followed close behind, running, then a question popped in his head "then which side is svetlana on?!" mal said , already starting to get into the mood of the game. "Svetlana's our defense, you and I are offense." mike replied then the two entered the battlefield. Manitoba noticed their entry and began to fire, "DUCK!" mike yelled, pulling mal down with him, they had to get to the base as quickly as possible. Svetlana was using her gymnastic skills to dodge. She saw the two boys enter the zone and mike signalled her to get to the base. The three jumped in, avoiding the firing. In the center of the base there was a table with what looked like to be a blueprint on top with one light source above. Mal couldn't help but giggle a little at how serious the game was getting. The three all ran to the table at once where the blank paper lay as mike grabbed a pen and all of us were looking at what we assumed would be our Battle Strategy. "Alright mal, you're colonel, I'm general, and svetlana, you're lieutenant. Mal, the scenario is that we're the rebels and manitoba and vito are the kingdom dictators out to destroy us. Now then-..." mike paused after mal nodded in understanding, then proceeded on to drawing out their plan. The other two then looked down at the paper with immense concentration and focus as mike described his drawings: "Okay, svetlana you protect the base meanwhile mal and I will split up to attack from the sides to get their ammo." Mike said, mal chimed in, "Or what if svetlana were to distract vito and manitoba and as they directed their attention towards her we could sneak up from behind and then-" "AYE HURRY IT UP...OR WE'LL INVADE!" Manitoba warned, everyone gasped at the same time. "OK we'll go with mal's idea, now HURRY!" svetlana ran out of the base as manitoba and vito started shooting at her, she dodged every one as mal and mike ran quickly to the back. once they were behind the two, mal and mike quietly giggled. Manitoba's keen senses kicked in when he heard the boys laughing and immediately turned his weapon on them, mal and mike held each other in fear as they shrieked, vito finally heard them and turned his weapon on them as well. Mike began to sweat as he tried to negotiate with them, "Manny, Vito, c'mon let's not be too harsh-" "QUIT CALLIN' ME MANNY!" manitoba yelled, the two boys were starting to get nervous...until they saw svetlana sneaking up behind them… "NOW SVETLANA!" svetlana then put the two in a headlock, making them drop their weapons. Mike and mal took this opportunity and dove for the weapons and the ammo then quickly fled back to the fort. Svetlana let go and did the same as the general and colonel, she leaped over and into the fort, landing next to mal, startling him. Svetlana decided to take over in the order giving department. since the last plan went code red. "Ok ve both know zat manitoba und vito have very short tempers, it iz only a matter of time before zhey use physical violence and charge uz-" "but we have the advantage, we got their weapons AND ammunition, what's there to worry about?" mal asked, confused, mike nodded in agreement with mal's question, also confused. "Timing, it'z everysinc, zhey vill charge uz soon, ve must be stealthy. Mike, mal…load za veapons, hurry!" Neither of them hesitated for a second to start taking orders from a girl, mostly because of the circumstances as they loaded their weapons, they heard the starting bell- " CHAAAAARGE!" Vito and manitoba yelled in sync as they ran to the fort. Svetlana told them exactly how to attack them:which ever person is toward your side, that's the one you hit, aim for the face or forehead! They did as their leader said and immediately took aim, fired, hit their designated targets perfectly, and they fell over like trees, Just like svetlana said. "That was awesome, thanks svetlana!" mike said happily, "ha ha, we should listen to her more often!" mal said pleased. "Hey I just realized something…"mike said to mal, "what?"mal wondered, "where's chester?" Just then, the two heard footsteps coming behind them, they turned around only to get hit and knocked out cold with his cane. "Alright, now, svetlana take the two whippersnappers to their room." Chester commanded, svetlana picked up the sleeping boys and carried them as if they were sleeping babies, svetlana felt like a mom, taking care of the two boys. Vito and manitoba got up fast since they pretended to get hit and let them win. "So now that that's out of the way…, who wants to take control?" Chester asked. "Me, I heard that mike missed lunch, and you guys know that I always have a big appetite." Manitoba said with his hand raised. "Mal's been hoggin' all the control lately." Vito said, annoyed. "Fine, go at it, manny". Chester said, completely ignoring vito's statement. Manitoba snickered at vito, knowing he'd be jealous. He snapped his fingers and disappeared.


	4. chapter 4 gumbo

Manitoba woke up in mike's bed and started to head toward the kitchen. He smelled something tasty as his stomach growled. He walked in on mike's mom stirring soup, "G'day sheila, dinner's smellin' great!" She was a bit startled, she almost dropped the ladle. "It's awlright, just me." Manitoba said, a bit quieter than before. "Manitoba?!" Mike's mom said in surprise. "Yep" he said, reaching for his favorite fedora by the door on an upper shelf. "Let me help 'ya with that-" she grabbed the fedora and placed it on manitoba's head, he adjusted it of course so that it was more tilted forward, just the way he liked it. Mike's mom giggled at his strict attention to detail, "anyway it's gumbo that's in the pot." "Oh...well then...better serve me up three bowls in that case, I'm mighty hungry." Manitoba stated, rubbing his stomach. "Alright, sit down I'll get the bowls-" "no no, let me." Manitoba started for the cabinet. His mother just watched giggling as she saw manitoba working his strategy; He started pulling drawers, being an 8 year old, light-weighted boy, he knew that the drawers could support him. Manitoba began crawling up on the drawers almost like stepping stones. He got up to the counter and finally got the bowls, he put them under his hat for safe keeping. His mom was just sitting at the table amused at what her 8 year old son can do. Manitoba decided to go down the "fun way", he grabbed on to one of the wings on the moving fan. It flung him toward the table and he landed right on top of it, scaring his mother. "Must you do that…I thought only that russian girl would do something so athletic as launching onto a fan and landing on a table without tumbling." "Svetlana", manitoba said with an annoyed look. He was expressing the face of a stubborn child, making his mother laugh, "whatever…*chuckle*...want some gumbo, I'll set up the rest of the table." Manitoba sat down at the chair on the other side of the table, arms stubbornly crossed, pouting as his mother started getting out spoons and glasses of milk since the gumbo was hot. Manitoba looked at the glass of milk in front of him and slid it away with a cocky grin, "heh, I don't need no glass of milk for something that I bet will only tingle the tongue a bit, I can take it...easy." "Oh, well in that case-" she reached for the cabinet to her right and pulled out a red bottle, she hid the label with her hand to surprise manitoba since he was being a "smart-mouth" to her cooking. Once the gumbo was poured into the bowl, the scent was so spicy that he had to pinch his nose, he got over it and kept the sneer on his face as he took a big spoonful of the gumbo and took one big bite. Manitoba was paused in movement, the heat instantly ran up his entire body as he profusely began to sweat, his face turned bright red. He swallowed and started panting like a worn out dog. "Hot enough for 'ya?...need some milk?" His mother said waving his undrinken full glass. "OK..YOU WERE RIGHT! YOUR GUMBO IS EXTREMELY HOT...NOW PLEASE GIVE ME THE MILK!" Manitoba begged, his mother giggled at her accomplishment and handed manitoba the milk. He quickly ate the 3 bowls that he promised his mother he'd eat and then chugged down 2 tall glasses of milk in under 40 minutes.

It had been a long day but mike's mom had finally mustered up the courage to ask what seemed like a simple question, "so manitoba, where's mike?" Manitoba put down his now empty glass with his tongue out and answered slowly, curious of the response. "He's...sleeping...in here-" manitoba said, pointing at his head. "Where is "here"'? His mother asked, getting slightly worried. "In his room, but don't worry, he's ok. Svetlana's taking care of them-" "what do you mean "them"'? She was almost shaking at what the answer might be, manitoba wasn't quite used to this kind of pressure and eventually gave in, "svetlana is taking care of mike and mal while they're sleeping, b-but they're ok, really, just a little bump on their heads is all." Manitoba said, awkwardly laughing while his mom's mouth had dropped down to the table, "MAL?!" His mother choked. "What's wrong with mal, he's really nice. Hate to admit it but even vito and I had a lot of fun playing Soldier." Manitoba giggled, His mother was not amused, "dammit...now you tell me, is he safe?!" "Of course he's fine, everyone's in the room with them, those two have been tucked in and are sleeping like babies." "You go tell this 'mal'-whatever to get the hell away from my child or so help me god-" his mother angrily said, gripping both of his arms and kneeling down to a face-to-face level, making manitoba quite nervous.


	5. chapter 5 the runaway

~Two years ago~

Mike was just getting off of the bus at school. He just wanted to get through the day unnoticed. Ever since the kids found out about his multiple personality disorder, he got bullied regularly. He started finding ways to maneuver around it; He never raised his hand, used process of elimination when he had to get a partner for a project, whenever given the chance he'd sit in the far corners of the classroom. However, this lowered his participation grade and so whenever he got his grades to hand over to his parents, his father would be waiting by the door so that he could be the first to see them. He'd go to bed with bruises on his face and arms. He was sick and tired of the routine but almost everyday the kids would leave him alone until the class had free time or lunch and recess, he'd try to outrun them but they always caught up. But this day was different, almost immediately all the kids spotted him and began running towards him, he started running as fast as he could to get inside the building and get to the principals office. They were faster, they all pounced on him, their immense weight knocked the wind out of him as he was face flat on a pile of dirt. One of the kids yanked his head up by his hair, "why don't one of your little personalities come to help you, huh?" They got off him and stole his shirt, he gasped and became vito. "So...ya been itchin' for a fight lately, huh, tough guy." Vito said as he grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt, lifting him off the ground. He smirked and vito smirked, the other kids stepped back knowing a gruesome battle was about to proceed. The girls started walking off the bus and gathered around as the other kids did so as well. The two took off their backpacks and vito put the boy down, his name was nick and all the kids separated into their designated sides: Girl's on vito's side, boy's on nick's side. "Let's rumble!" Vito declared as the two lunged at each other, causing a huge dirt cloud to rise up from the dry dusty ground, blocking sight of the two boys. The girls held their breath as they felt the tension rise, "BREAK IT UP YOU TWO!" a man yelled, all the kids turned around in shock as the dust cleared, it was to be revealed as the principal. When he looked down, he saw vito on top of nick who was covered in bruises and bumps, vito only had a couple but he didn't notice the principal walking up as vito delivered the finishing blow, knocking nick completely comatose. The principal had a disappointed look on his face as he swiftly grabbed vito's hand, pulling it back, bringing him to his feet before he could strike again. The man yanked vito to the office by his ear, before he could retrieve his shirt and backpack. After they made it to the office, vito rubbed his sore ear and thus, the lecture began; "That's the third time this week mike." "eh yo, it's VITO."... "Ugh, yes that's right. I nearly forgot-", The principal stuttered. "Disrespect 'da vito and you're gonna get a beat down!" Vito said holding his tight, clenched fist in his hand. "OK THAT'S IT!" The principal scolded, "IT'S ONLY BARELY DAYLIGHT, NOT EVEN 9'O CLOCK AND YOU...YOU'RE ALREADY GETTING INTO FIGHTS! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH YOU ANYMORE!" Vito stepped back in shock, assuming the worst. "Ugh, bring mike back, please. I'd like to have a word with him." The man said, calming down. "I'll need ma' shirt, it's outside cause YOU didn't give me enough time to pick up ma' stuff." Vito accused. "Ok fine, run out

and get it, but get back in here the minute you put the shirt back on ya' hear?" He sighed. "Sure", vito replied. As vito ran back outside an idea popped in his head…. Vito grabbed the shirt and stuffed it into his backpack and ran off in the opposite direction of his house. Just going home would mean answering to his father, he wanted to keep mike as safe as possible just like the other personalities. Not just because they all shared the same body but because all of them had come to love him, they cared for him deeply. For a while they were mike's only friends. Vito just kept running, he was planning on running away. The principal ran out of the building not long after vito had finally disappeared, flustered and frustrated he called his parents and the police. Vito's stomach began to churn, knowing that now there's no going back, he just had to keep running. His confidence grew as he started to run faster and faster, afraid for mike. Losing focus vito tripped causing his knee to bleed. He heard a car approaching and quickly sprang into the bushes, the car passed and he sighed in relief that it wasn't his father's car. He then ran into the woods that were nearby the school, there were lots of hiding places in there he remembered. He ran into the woods, jumping over logs, dodging trees, pushing through spiderwebs, and crawling under tall thorny bushes. Until he made it to the heart of the huge forest, there he found the perfect hiding spot underneath a large bush hidden by spiderwebs and low tree branches. The sun was at the highest peak, it was noon vito mostly only saw it as lunch time and only that but being summer, his tan body was getting cooked. Vito was rarely afraid but now he was shaking. He remembered his shirt in his backpack but he knew that all that mike would do is get sick and cry in a ball, he'd be no help but maybe svetlana… "russian gymnast, 3rd time winner, tree jumping champion!" Vito yelled to summon her, he gasped and svetlana came to light. She jumped from tree to tree getting higher and higher above the blinding forest and finally reached the top, she spied around and noticed the coast was clear. She made a very risky move at leaving the forest, svetlana was still shirtless so vito could return at any time he pleased, she knew he wouldn't dare interfere in her skills when they're needed the most. Svetlana was always glad to help mike anyway she could. Though reluctantly is she assisting vito in his plot, knowing it cannot end well. Once she was out of the forest after an hour of hiding, svetlana started jumping from roof to roof and tree to tree, always remaining above ground, throwing the cops for a loop.


	6. Chapter 6 mal's origin

~In the subconscious~

Mike was watching everything through the mirror with chester, manitoba, and vito by his side. He was shivering with fear as his personas tried to hold him, his stomach was so sick, he thought for sure that he'd vomit. "C'mon mate, let's get'cha to your room. I swear it'll all work out, svetlana's fine I'm sure of it." Manitoba picked mike up off the ground and started heading toward his room, vito and chester just stayed watch, mostly to keep an eye on svetlana to make sure she's safe. It didn't take long for mike to fall asleep but manitoba stayed with him anyway for reassurance. Vito and chester then noticed something through the mirror, as svetlana was jumping around they saw what seemed to be a familiar looking car, it wasn't a cop car…. "SVETLANA LOOK OUT!" vito yelled hoping svetlana could hear him. She did ,luckily and then hid in one of the upper branches in a nearby tree. She saw the car that passed and who was in it, his/her father, he had the most angry look a person could get on his face. Svetlana gasped in fear especially when she saw the person beside him in the passenger seat. "MOM!" mike gasped, he was now in control and absolutely distraught. His mother was out cold, bloody nose, a big fat swollen bruise along her face and forehead, tears began to fall as he noticed his mother's neck had red finger marks and it was all his fault. He had to do something but...what?

Evening was approaching and the sun was almost down, his other personalities didn't know what to do. Mike was scared out of his wits, until he finally decided he had to go home. On the way there as he was nearing his house, he was so nauseous he threw up behind a stop sign but still kept on going. Vito was just as sick and scared as mike since it was his fault, he felt so incredibly guilty that he was begging mike to let him take over so he could take the hits for him. "VITO YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH, I DON'T NEED YOUR "HELP" ANYMORE!" mike yelled, just then a policemen was in his car with the windows rolled down and heard the boy yelling at nothing, he decided to approach him wondering if this was the boy they were looking for. The cop car was at a distance so it was hard to make out his face. Mike saw the policemen walking up to him and started to run toward his house despite knowing it wouldn't be any better, the cop ran after him to make sure he was headed to the place where he ought to be at. When the cop caught up to him he saw mike about to knock on the door and so once he was close enough to see his face clearly he saw bruises all around his face and assumed the worst but didn't want to ask straight out, "did something attack you near the woods, did you fall somewhere?" the cop asked concerned. "Yeah, something like that." Mike knocked on the door and his father was the first to answer, mike began to shake and sweat. "I found him walking toward the house anyway I just escorted him to the door…" his father looked down on mike and it shocked him…, "oh thank God you're alright, your mother and I were SO worried about you!" Mike was totally and completely stunned at what his father was saying. The policemen had a sigh of relief knowing that he actually wasn't being abused, he probably only fell. "Well have a good night, I'm glad your son is okay." "Thank you very much officer." He tipped his hat with a smile on his face and with that, he left. Once the door was closed, the warm atmosphere had changed completely it seemed more serious, intense, scary almost, and dark. Mike began to feel uneasy again, his father's smile had vanished the minute the cop had left and mike's legs were almost numb at how afraid he was. Just then, mike took a hard slap to the face, knocking his entire body to the ground. His father left the room, relieving mike until he returned. Mike was absolutely terrified at what his father was holding, a spiked belt. Mike jumped up and started backing away from the belt wielding man as slowly as he was moving toward him until mike had found himself in a corner, mike tried to dive for underneath the couch but his father had grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him up in the air and smacked him into the corner again. Now, still in the air being held up by his shirt, he was at an eye-to-eye level with this fearsome man, "I-I'M SORRY I'M REALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY, PLEASE DADDY, DADDY, DON'T DO IT PLEASE!" Mike begged, he didn't hear a word he said as he soon began beating mike with his spiked belt, he'd been beaten with belt's before but he only used his spiked one when he was REALLY angry. Mike was down on the ground covering his head, shaking and crying loudly, "SHUT UP!" he took a swift kick to mike's stomach, making him vomit again. "HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE!" Mike yelled out, he got a hard punch to his cheek knocking him unconscious.

~In the subconscious~

Mike woke up in his mind again but his other personalities were nowhere to be seen. He sat down and started concentrating on everything that had happened, trying to sort it out almost. All of a sudden he remembered his mother and started to wonder what had happened to her, "is...she dead…?" as mike thought about this…, the longer he did the more furious he became. It may have been a trick of mind but it seemed like mike was glowing...only not "bright" necessarily but dark,...it was almost black and it was getting bigger and bigger, the angrier he got. Then it seemed like a figure had appeared, all that darkness had formed into what looked like a person, after all the dark glow had disappeared mike fell under what seemed like a spell right after the dark figure had finally fully formed into a person as mike fell into the person's arms, one of the seeing mirrors had shown his reflection. A small boy, mike's height, with a flap of hair over one of his eyes had an evil and sly grin on his face. He gently set mike down and walked up to the mirror to get a closer look, he examined his face while holding his chin and nodding as if he approved of his new body, the boy chuckled and slowly began to laugh until it was maniacal. Then the mirror changed to reveal the outside and what mike's body was seeing, the boy grew silent as he witnessed a replay of what had happened that day. He now knew exactly what was going on, he looked back at mike with a sad pitying look and all he could think to do was to help save the boy before his father could do anything else. His looked turned to pure anger and hatred as he jumped into the mirror and took control, he blinked a few times before he fully came to and saw the man leaving the room he'd probably let his son die in. The boy was unbelievably furious at how he had treated mike, he ran to him and then kicked the back of his leg. "Want some more huh?" He turned around slowly and had a vicious grin of absolute evil as he smacked his son as hard as he could with his spiked belt, throwing him back onto the couch. He walked back up to him with his belt above his head, ready to start the process all over again. The child lifted his head up slowly as dark circles began to form underneath his eyelids, his eyes grew darker and darker. He then coughed up some blood on the couch and his hand, he looked at his trembling hand and curled it into a tight fist, he took aim and tried to punch his father. "Too slow" his father said as he grabbed his arm and began to twist, the boy screamed in pain and his father then punched him in the stomach. The boy fell to the ground and started hacking blood all on the carpet. The boy's teeth began to sharpen and he started glowing just like mike, "I'LL KILL YOU!" The boy yelled as he charged his father once more. The man stopped him by the head and threw him back against the wall knocking him unconscious. Tears started to fall as he was he was sent back to his mind, he saw mike laying down fast asleep, "I'm sorry I couldn't help." He said as he turned back into black mist and disappeared, he decided to watch him from afar and practice how he might be able to one day beat his father and truly save mike once and for all.


	7. Chapter 7 friends

So it was monday and mike had already woken up, ate breakfast, and had gotten on the bus. His mother was worried after hearing from manitoba that mike and mal play together in his mind, calling him a "bad influence" is the biggest understatement possible. She was hoping things might be a little better at school. Meanwhile on the bus, mike already had someone's lunch dumped on him by "accident". He was starting to get angry until he remembered that game of soldier, he started laughing because of it and soon everyone started whispering to each other; "I told you he's crazy!" "He really is nuts!" "What's a loony like him doing at our school?!" Mike's head began to slump down once again, he was struggling to find something cheery to think about. Just then mike looked at the window and saw mal beside him, smiling, then all of a sudden the teasing started to grow louder as a girl got on the bus, she was new. She had bright red hair, red dress, tan shoes and had a small flower in her hair. The girl noticed mike being teased, "HEY LEAVE HIM ALONE!" The girl yelled as she ran to sit next to mike. "Hi I'm zoey, what's your name?" Zoey asked picking egg out of his hair, mike blushed and hesitantly answered, "I'm mike". He didn't say anymore as zoey frowned, now almost worried but the frown quickly turned to a smile when she asked him the question, "wanna be friends?" zoey asked with a nice smile. Mike nodded then all the kids turned around. "ZOEY and MIKE sittin' in a tree K.I.S.S.I.N.G.!" Mike gasped and his eyes turned black, zoey thought his gasping meant he had asthma. She pulled out her first aid kit and shoved the inhaler in his mouth, he gasped again and turned back into mike, "why do you have a first aid kit?" mike asked, he coughed a little because of the inhaler medicine. "I'm a Girl Scout, girl scouts always come prepared and I'm a tad paranoid." She pulled an awkward smile. "Isn't that the Boy Scout motto?" mike corrected. "I'm not too sure, After all I haven't been to any of the meetings in a year or earned any badges." She awkwardly laughed as did mike until it became hilarious. "So are you new here? I haven't noticed you around." "Yeah, it's a long story, my dad lost his job as a hotel manager and got a new one as the principal of this school. I didn't get to see him that often, that's why I was transferred here so that I could be closer to him." "Oh uh heh heh...greeaaat." Mike was beginning to get a little nervous that his new friend was the daughter of the principal, the same principal who despises him.

~Meanwhile in the subconscious~

Mal was watching this through the seeing mirror and was wondering how it was possible for this "new girl" to send him back to his mind. "You know how mike gasps whenever one of us take over-" Mal seemed shocked that it looked like manitoba was reading his mind, he decided to ignore manitoba's "all-knowing-ability" and went along with it. "Yeah, what about it?" Mal wondered, "and do you know what asthma is?" manitoba asked. "Sort of, doesn't it have to do with having issues with breathing and stuff?" "yep and so you know what happens when you have difficulty breathing, you start to gasp for air, an inhaler helps to stop the gasping. Without mike gasping, we can't come out, that's what inhalers are meant to do." Mal was shocked at this and was worried for mike, "what if he needs us and that girl has that inhaler-thingy around", "then I guess we're outta luck." "no...no...no NO! I WON'T ALLOW THAT! I know how to take control other ways anyway." And with that mal stomped away, leaving manitoba in shock. When mal had gotten into his room, he saw a few pieces of paper and some pens on his desk. He ran over and started drawing, he drew horrible drawings with zoey in them and in all of them, something horrible was happening to her. Falling off a cliff, getting stabbed, struck by lightning, anything he could think of were on those papers. Mal knew he had to hide them of course so that mike wouldn't see them or the other personalities. Since there weren't many hiding places, mal's genius started to show as he actually created hiding spots. He'd pull out one of the drawers so that he could see the bottom of the desk and taped some to the ceiling of the desk itself so that even if you opened the drawer, you wouldn't be able to see it. In between mattresses as opposed to just under the bed. Painting the back of the paper to match the wall and taping it up there(hiding in plain sight). Mal looked behind him and saw manitoba by the door, he was just as stunned as manitoba, "mal...you-" "NO ONE IS GONNA TAKE MIKE AWAY FROM ME! MIKE IS MY FRIEND!" Manitoba looked down and then back up with a warm smile as he walked into the room, "it's ok, I understand how 'ya feel so I'll keep quiet, 'ya don't have to worry, mike's not gonna leave you behind." Mal started to cry and manitoba hugged him. "It's awlright, mate." Mal then let go and got on the bed to try and sleep it off. When manitoba had left the room and he heard the door close mal wiped his tears away and grinned showing his sharp teeth and the dark circles returned as well. Mal started to quietly chuckle and try to come up with a plan to get rid of zoey. "No one."


	8. Chapter 8 the imposter

The night before tuesday mike had spent his night in his mind playing all sorts of games with mal, Imaginary fist fights, War, Pretend king, and practicing battle strategy for the next game of soldier, not to mention pulling pranks on chester for hitting them with a cane. The other personalities just watched the two little boys playing and having fun meanwhile manitoba was deep in thought. He was contemplating whether he should really tell mike about what mal was doing while mike was in school. After a while of just watching the two having fun he decided not to, he seemed harmless enough and it doesn't seem that mal was really thinking about his previous plans. "I guess he just sorta slept it off." Manitoba thought with a sigh of relief. Mike woke up the next day and after getting on the bus, zoey went straight for his seat. Mike had found out yesterday that zoey was actually in his class as well. several times a day, mal would try to take over and each time zoey foiled his plans. Mal had began to grow impatient until he was filled with rage. Tuesday and wednesday had been perfect until all of a sudden, everyone started targeting zoey as well as mike. On the bus they both would have egg in their hair, in lunch they were shunned, in gym everyone was aiming for their faces and them only. One day, zoey was walking to the bus to go home and several guys ran up and tackled her, she was kicked and hit in the stomach over and over again. Mike was switched out with mal when he was about to get on the bus, as he passed zoey, she looked up and begged him to help her. He just ignored her and got on the bus. "Heh, that'll show her." Mal sneered as he got on the bus and saw her angry face, he blew her a raspberry and the bus left without her. The seeing mirror wasn't up the entire time so mike saw nothing. "Mike is mine and mine alone." He whispered. As mal got inside, he saw his mother on the phone with the principal and all he heard was a bunch of "I'm sorry's" on her side of the call. Mal entered the room as his mother's back was facing him. "Right, I'll tell him right away. I promise it won't happen again. Thank you, goodbye." She hung up the phone and turned around, she jumped startled. "Mike?..." "no". His mother started to feel uneasy, "it's you isn't it?" "nice to see you once again, mommy-" "I'M NOT YOUR MOMMY!" his mother yelled, nervously. "Where's mike, you little-" "in here", he answered bluntly. "Bring him back, I want to have a word with him-" "if it's about zoey then-" "it's about you!" his mother angrily replied. "I don't think you want to wake him up, he'll be awfully cranky, besides we're going to be playing some more soon, I thought of a new game on the bus and it's gonna be really fun when I go to sleep." "I want to see my baby...RIGHT...NOW!" His mom had a cold look in her eyes, mal shrugged and decided to meet her request. He lied. He fake gasped as his eyes turned light brown like mike's and all of his usual evil facial features had vanished, his hair went up and he began to imitate mike's voice perfectly. "Mom? What's wrong?" Mal acted, his mother bent down and hugged him with tears in her eyes but quickly wiped them off, trying not to cry in front of whom she assumed to be her son. "Honey, I need to talk to you about something-" "yeah?" "...-It's about your 'friend'...mal." "What about him?" Mal/mike asked. "Is it possible to get rid of a personality?" His mother asked on one knee to meet him on an eye to eye level. "What are you implying?" Mal asked, curiously "I want you to get rid of mal, can you do that for me?" His mom wondered, hopefully. "No, I don't know how, I've given it thought really, like with vito so I wouldn't get in trouble anymore. Sorry." Mal answered, his mother looked down in disappointment but then looked up with a forced smile and tried to warn him, "it's just that… I don't think mal is a good influence on you. So I'd just like you to be careful at least, ok?" She asked, hopefully. "Ok, I will." His mother sighed in relief. Mal yawned and asked what was for dinner and then told his mom that he was gonna go do his homework. She agreed and told him "turkey" he nodded with a smile on his face and then left the room and went down the hall to his room. He locked the door behind him and went to sleep.

~In mike's mind~

Mal had just appeared in mike's room beside him who was fast asleep on his bed. Mal's appearance had woken him up, mike rubbed his eyes until he could see clearly, "mal?" Mal just looked down, pretending to be unable to look mike in the face. "Mal, what's the matter?" "It's that girl...zoey...she doesn't like you anymore and I was really happy for you that you made a friend on the outside but then-..." "WHAT? zoey doesn't like me anymore...WHY?" Mike asked upset. "It was the kids, they told her about your multiple personalities. I saw it with my own eyes, when I walked down the halls and passed her, she'd laugh at me along with her new group of friends." "I-I thought that zoey would be different… that she'd like me for me, but I guess not…" Mike said with his head slumped down. "Hey it's ok, you still got me after all." Mal said in a soft tone as he put his arm around his shoulder. "You're the only one I can really trust, mal. I'm glad to have you as my friend." "Me too!" The two boys hugged on it. Little did mal know that manitoba was eavesdropping on their whole conversation. "I knew it!" He whispered.


	9. Chapter 9 danger

Mal heard footsteps as he whipped his head around and for a flash second, when he saw his face before he started to back away. "Mike I'll be back, stay here." Mal told him as he ran off and out of the room. Mike was curious but still decided to listen to mal's instruction and layed back down on the bed. Mal caught manitoba in the hall, he was at a standstill but not because he was found but because WHO found him. Mal started to chase him down the hall, manitoba ran as fast as he could but mal was faster. He tackled him. "You...you did it didn't you!" "You tell mike or anyone else and you're DEAD! ...MANNY!" Manitoba looked up in terror as he saw mal's true face for the first time, his brown eyes had turned to black and manitoba was shaking with fear. "...Mal…?" Mal didn't care that manitoba now knew the truth and got straight back to business. "MIKE IS MINE, NOBODY IS GONNA TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME! NOT YOU, NOT ZOEY...NOT ANYBODY!" Manitoba just frowned and looked down, he tried to relate but this had never happened before to him or the others, he tried to put himself in mal's position. "Mal, I understa-" "NO YOU DON'T!" Mal looked at his hand with great focus and a switchblade appeared, he put it to manitoba's neck to let him know it was real, manitoba started to tremble. "Mal...l-listen, I-I don't intend on t-t-telling mike, I pr-promise." Mal sighed, now craving bloodshed and decided to reluctantly let him go but not without a warning. "All right...but if you do...I SWEAR THAT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TELL ANYONE ANYTHING ANYMORE!" He nooded and mal let him go, he started walking in the other direction but as he looked back, he saw mal licking the knife with a sadistic grin while showing his sharp teeth, manitoba shuttered and started to run. Mal chuckled and walked down the hall in the other direction into mike's room. "What happened?" Mike asked, worried. "Oh, it was nothing, any way, why don't I tell you about my new game!" Mal asked excitedly. Mike nodded happily. Meanwhile, manitoba was sitting on the bed in his room, it had green walls and they were decorated with jungle vines running up to the ceiling, his bed had a wooden frame and the blanket for the bed was fluffy and dark green so it looked like a tree. As he sat there in concentration, he started to get worried for mike and was also trying to figure out how he managed to create a knife with his mind. Manitoba tried the same but couldn't pull it off. Then a thought struck him, making a shiver go down his spine. "If mal is able to create a knife with just a mere thought, who knows what else he can do. If he tried hard enough he might even be able...to get rid of us." Manitoba curled up on his bed, facing the wall as he began to sweat. "And he wouldn't hesitate for a second either." He knew that if mal could do this that he'd be his first victim. "It seems that chester knows the most 'bout mike's mind than mike, I might be able to talk to him 'bout this." Manitoba thought aloud, standing up. "Speaking of which, I haven't seen that 'ol dingo for 'while now. come to think of it, I haven't seen the others for a few days now." He began to sweat at this idea and ran out of his room in a hurry. Then all of a sudden, the hallway went from bright to dark, the floor and walls turned to stone bricks like the kind of hall you'd see in an old castle...or a...dungeon. Manitoba heard laughter coming from behind him, he wanted to know what it was but decided not to turn around and started running faster. Then he noticed something from the corner of his eye, it was a camera. He noticed more and more as he went on and knew that mal was watching him. His stomach began to form a tight knot as he started to grow dizzier and dizzier until *BAM* he was hit on the head with a large bowling ball. Mal had set boobytraps, knowing that manitoba would break his promise. Just before he fell 'asleep', he heard mal's sick deep voice laughing non stop, manitoba started to tremble again. Then he heard another voice of laughter, he couldn't tell who before he finally passed out. "D-damn...y-you."


	10. Prisoner chapter 10 escape

Mike woke up in a strange place, he looked around, his eyes still hazy until he saw his mother beside him holding his hand. "Oh my you're finally awake!" She said, hugging him and wiping tears from her eyes. "Mom what's going on, where am I?" Mike asked. "You're in the hospital, you've been asleep for three days" "WHAT?!" He yelled surprised. "Yes, well, after you said you were going to go do your homework, you went into your room and fell asleep. When I called you for dinner, you didn't answer, I was worried and so I knocked on your door. You didn't answer then either so I assumed you just fell asleep on your desk doing your homework since I noticed you were tired and I just left you be. Then the next day I knocked on your door for school, I just figured you were still sleeping so I tried to open the door to wake you up but it was locked. I had a very uneasy feeling, so I went outside and climbed into your room through your window and tried to shake you awake, but...nothing. I called 911 and they took you away in an ambulance. The doctor told me you were in a full coma and that they didn't know how long exactly it would last. I was so scared for you!" She looked at her son's mortified face and felt bad for making him feel guilty. "Oh forget it, the point is is that your awake and safe now!" Just then mike gasped and became manitoba. The doctor's were monitoring his pulse and brainwaves and they all of a sudden spiked. Manitoba began to sweat. "NO, WE'RE NOT… WE'RE NOT SAFE!" His eyes became bloodshot and he started blinking wildly, frightening his mother. "Mike...is that you? WHO'S TALKING RIGHT NOW?!" "It's me, manitoba!" He started hyperventilating. His mother tried to calm him down and patiently waited for him to start breathing normally then he spoke. "Mom...urgh...you need to get away or he's gonna-" just then he cupped his hand over his mouth and bit his lip. His mother started to back away nervously. "DOCTOR, DOCTOR HURRY!" The doctor rushed in and brought some men with him. The man held his arm down to inject him with a sleeping medicine as he started to struggle wildly, the other men held him down so he wouldn't squirm. "NO DON'T PLEASE I'M NOT SAFE WHEN I'M ASLEEP, I HAVE TO STAY AWAKE OR ELSE HE'LL-" and then the needle went in as he started to close his eyes slowly, he looked back at his mother with tears in his eyes and attempted to reach his hand out to her, begging. She cried with her hands over her mouth as he finally calmed down and fell asleep. "There, he should only be under for a couple hours, I promise…, your son is going to be ok." He told her, trying to calm her down. She was hysterical and ran over to her son.

Manitoba had woken up in mal's room which was covered in gruesome pictures, he tried to scream when he saw the pictures that had him in it. Stabbed, over a fire, bleeding out, thrown in a volcano, decapitation, everything. The gag stopped him, he was also handcuffed. He was only on the bed so he could easily just run out of the room, he got up but quickly fell, _what the-_. He looked up and saw mal holding a needle, the same needle that was used to put him to sleep in the hospital. This time instead of fear, he displayed anger. Mal was surprised but got over it and his face turned to a smirk. "Heh. So manny, still got some fight left in 'ya?" Mal chuckled and manitoba just struggled. Manitoba tried to muffle a few threats but once again, the gag stopped him. Mal shrugged and finally took the gag off but closed the door first. "MAL, YOU SON OF A BITCH!...WHERE'S MIKE?! WHERE'S EVERYONE ELSE?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?!" "That's an awful lot of questions, I'd be more worried about you right now." Manitoba wasn't even thinking about what was going on, but was more focused on something else. "WHERE...IS...MIKE?!" "He's fine, of course and...well...actually, he's right here hahaha!" Mal opened the door and mike walked in. Manitoba thought he was saved, "MIKE! MATE! IT'S GREAT TO SEE 'YA!" At first he felt relieved but then remembered the position he was in and frowned with a serious gaze "…, Mike, you need to get away from that dingo…". Mike just stood there, silent. Manitoba knew something was very wrong. He looked up and saw that mike...didn't look like mike, he had those evil dark circles under his eyes like mal's. "...Mike…?" Just then manitoba took a swift kick to the gut from mike to get him to shut up. "Mike?" Manitoba then directed his attention towards mal. "MAL, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MIKE?!" Both mal and mike smiled, manitoba was truly worried for mike when mal began to laugh maniacally. "MIKE, C'MON CAN'T 'YA HEAR ME?!" Mike just remained silent as an evil grin spread across his face. "I can hear you loud and clear, manny and frankly...I don't like it." Mal looked at mike with a smile, the two nodded as if reading each other's minds and grabbed manitoba by his shirt. They began to drag him away toward and into the hall. Mal let go, leaving mike to do the dragging as mal started disabling traps. Manitoba started to claw the ground while he was cuffed, his legs were still numb though. Mal began walking at the same speed he was being dragged. "This is what happens when you break your promises." "But I didn't say a word!" "I saw you running in the wrong direction, I also can read body language perfectly. While we were playing, I kept my eye on you, you were clearly thinking about what I had said, I know what betrayal looks like." Manitoba sighed and a question popped in his head. "Where are the others?!" "you're going to see them right now." Mike answered bluntly as manitoba looked up. He knew something horrible was about to happen so he began to focus extremely until all of a sudden *POP*, a small flash of light blinded the two and manitoba disappeared, mike and mal were shocked. Mal knew exactly what happened… Manitoba took control. Mike noticed mal getting nervous, "mal, what happened?" He calmed down and put both hands on mike's shoulders to look at him face to face. "Manitoba's gonna tell on us and then they'll try to get rid of me...meaning we won't be able to play together anymore…" "WHAT?! I CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN! you're my best friend, mal." Mal smiled, "don't worry mike, no one is gonna separate us, I'll handle it." This made mike smile. "OK, mike...you check up on the others, make sure none of them have escaped and I'll deal with manitoba." Mal grinned maliciously, showing his sharp teeth, mike smiled as well and his teeth began to sharpen like mal's. "This is just like playing soldier, isn't it!" Mike giggled, "yeah!..now MOVE OUT!" Mal commanded in an imitating voice and giggled as well, then the two split up. Mal pulled up a mobile seeing mirror so he could watch manitoba carefully.

~At the hospital~

Manitoba shot up from the bed gasping for air. His mother was far more than concerned, "manitoba?...". Manitoba looked down at his mother. "Yeah...listen...it's about...HIM, that devil!" His mother paused in breathing. "M-M-M-MAL?! What about him?" Manitoba paused and looked away. "WHAT IS IT?...WHAT ABOUT MAL?! TELL ME!" She yelled as she shook him to make him look her in the eye. "...Mike...he's….gone bad…". Tears were welling up in her eyes, hearing this questionable news, "what do you mean, "gone bad'"? "I mean...he's with mal now." She was absolutely frozen and then… His eyes turned black, the dark circles appeared as did his sharp teeth and flap of hair over his eye. This wasn't her baby boy anymore or manitoba, and she was now afraid for her life as she's now speaking with...mal. "WHERE'S MIKE?! YOU WILL BRING MY BABY BACK...RIGHT NOW-", "he's not yours anymore...he's mine." "What're you talking abou-" "I mean he's not your son anymore...he's MY friend. You can't separate us...you...wench…". She stepped back in shock. He then yanked the small tube from his arm that was connected to the blood pack and turned it on her. She quickly brought her arms up to at least cover her face, knowing what was coming to her, she had no time to run or duck anyway as he shot blood all over her. The men from before came bursting in. Mal jumped from the bed, landing beside his now blood covered mother who was shaking in fear. The men started after mal to catch him and hold him down but that quickly drew into attacking him, he dodged it all and made it to the hallway, where everyone was staring at him. He was running toward the stairwell, passing everybody in the blink of an eye. When he got into the old concrete poorly paint-jobbed stairwell he heard the announcement: "LEVEL 4. CODE BLUE, RUNAWAY PATIENT! SMALL BOY DARK HAIR WEARING PATIENT UNIFORM, I REPEAT. CODE BLUE!" Mal started to get nervous and decided to slide down the railing (It'd be MUCH faster than just running down them). "It's awfully fun causing trouble isn't it!" HA! Mal thought aloud. He was sliding and sliding the whole way, and laughing all the way down. "It sure is fun making havoc! I'll teach mike how to do some of it later HAHAHAHAHAHA!"


	11. Chapter 11 sadistic devil

~Meanwhile in mike's mind~

Mike had just entered the prison in which his personalities were being held. "Why it's nice to see you all again. I hope you're finding the restraints comfortable." "Mal, ve vant to see mike, LET UZ GO!" svetlana yelled. "EH YO WHY'RE 'YA DOIN' THIS TO US?!" vito said, squirming trying to get out so he could punch the little torturer. "Mal's the one in control…, you guys are looking at the NEW mike!" Everyone gasped at the same time as they all stared at his similarity in facial features to mal. "ZAT'S A LIE, MIKE VOULD NEVER DO ZIS TO UZ!" svetlana spat back at him. "Would you all just shut your pie holes! 'ya ingrates!" Chester interrupted. Vito and svetlana were surprised at chester's loudness. "That IS mike, you ninny's. He's been hypnotized!" Mike smirked, "as if, I just went with the fun side." "You mean mal's side, don't you get that he's evil?!" "MAL'S MY FRIEND, MY BEST FRIEND, HE'S THE ONLY PERSON I CAN TRUST! UNLIKE YOU GUYS!" "What 'da heck are 'ya talking about?!" Vito asked confused. Mike looked down, "whenever dad was…-" the whole room was completely silent the minute mike mentioned his father. "YOU GUYS NEVER HELPED ME WHEN I NEEDED YOU THE MOST! ESPECIALLY YOU VITO, ALL YOU DID WAS GET ME INTO TROUBLE!" Mike accused. Just then mike felt an arm on his shoulder, he turned around happily knowing it must be mal. It was manitoba, mike was shocked and stunned. Manitoba had a glare just for mike, "sorry, mate, this is gonna hurt you a LOT more than it's gonna hurt me." He said right before he punched him in the face, knocking him out. Everyone was stunned and worried for mike. "MANITOBA, VAT DID YOU DO?!" Svetlana yelled. "I had to, mal's gonna come back at any moment so I gotta help you guys first." Manitoba said, running up to svetlana. Though however, he didn't know that mal had one of his mobile seeing mirrors, hidden in one of the dark corners of the room. So...mal appeared, there was no small flash of light or any sign of his presence, not even that manitoba could notice. As he stepped out of the shadows, chester was the first to notice him. "MANNY, LOOK OUT!" Manitoba looked behind him and saw mal, before he could even react, mal already had his hand on his neck. His grip was tight, before he passed out from suffocation mal threw him across the room and ran over to mike, shaking him to get up. "MIKE, MIKE GET UP!" Mike opened his eyes, "mal?" Mike then saw mal's arms and noticed red 'points', mike was alarmed at this. "You're arms...what happened?!" "They sedated me, I was caught at the bottom floor and they tackled me. I'm sorry mike." "But you're ok, right? you're not going to disappear or anything right?" "Of course not, I'm right here and I'll always be here...forever." Mike began to cry as mal hugged him for comfort, mike hugged him back. Svetlana, vito, and even chester had tears in their eyes. Manitoba felt more uneasy than pity, until he made an awful decision…. He grabbed mal and tried to pull him away from mike, the two held their ground and manitoba pulled harder, making mal angry. Mal flew his hand up and attached it to manitoba's arm. Mal began to focus extremely and smoke started to emerge from where his hand was holding manitoba's arm. He let go to reveal melted, still smoking, flesh. Manitoba let go of mal, holding his hot arm, now both mike and mal were staring at him, mike's dark under-eye circles came back and his teeth were now as sharp as mal's as the two displayed a sadistic grin. They broke up their hug and mal focused on manitoba once more, he got thrown into the wall, hard, he couldn't move as restraints began to appear and hold his arms and legs. "LET ME GO!" Manitoba screamed, mal just looked at mike as mal put his arm around mike's shoulder and they began to walk out of the room. The door slammed shut making a loud noise. The minute the two boys were alone, mal announced his new game and mike loved the idea, they ran down the hall to what mal was now calling "The Playground". "OK so it's called Sailor. And we're the captains of the ship...It's kinda like Pirate, that game we played last week remember?" Mike nodded to say "yes" so mal wouldn't have to go into too much detail. As they were running mal told mike about his powers: To make things appear with his mind, mike thought this was a super cool power and asked him if he could make the game more realistic. Mal told him yes and as they started to make it to the end of the hall mike heard thunder and waves crashing around. He looked at mal, laughing. The two were laughing hysterically and mal's face started to look more friendly as did mike's, Their dark circles disappeared and their teeth became normal and their smiles...instead of malicious, were kind and sweet. Mal focused on both of their heads and sailor caps appeared, making mike giggle. Then they entered "The Playground" and all that mike saw was a raging storm, heavy waves, pounding rain, lightning. "WHERE'S THE BOAT?" Mike had to yell over the storm, then he pointed straight forward and mike saw the big, old looking, wooden boat, and there was a mermaid on the front, she looked familiar. Mal used his powers to move the boat toward them, then the mermaid looked more clear and he was shocked. It was...ZOEY! And she had a horrified look on her face as if she had been tortured, mike felt nauseous. Mal noticed and he then put his hand on mike's shoulder, mike looked at mal. As the two exchanged glances, mal's eyes turned black and his face grew serious….mike paused and then remembered what mal had told him. His eyes became black as well and he looked angry. A bridge was created and the two boarded the ship. And so...the game started as the two sailors laughed evilly and ran to the steering wheel and stood side-by-side. Mike was now purposely steering the front of the ship in walls and pointed rocks, hitting the Zoey Mermaid. His face was identical to mal's as he nodded in approval of mike's evil deeds.


	12. Chapter 12 mine

~On the outside~

Mike's mom noticed something strange happening to her son's body. Throughout the past few hours. She'd taken a shower to get the blood off her, but when she came back...her son had taken all sorts of damage to his body. What REALLY scared her were the kinds of injuries. She saw bruises on his face, a bump on his head, red marks around his wrists, and the most frightening of all...half of his left arm was badly burnt. It seemed to get bigger and bigger like a virus had infected his arm, in some parts the BONE was actually visible, his mother was unbelievably distraught. She asked the doctor if they could look at some of the security cam footage from when she was in the shower and not watching her son. All the doctors' were stunned and frozen, trying to make logic of this, when they zoomed in, with his mother beside them, they saw wounds just randomly appearing. His eyes were squinting and he was sweating a ton, while rolling around on the bed fidgeting and shaking uncontrollably. His mother was so into this video that she had actually forgotten about her son who was now seemingly getting worse. She snapped out of her trance and ran out of the room and into her son's room. The woman was frozen in fear and felt a chill run down her entire being as she slowly crept up to her boy and saw something horrific. The burn had come all the way up to his shoulder and was making it's way up to his neck. The doctors rushed in and put restraints on his whole body except for his arm. "He's going to need surgery, QUICKLY, GET HIM TO THE E.R. WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME!" "WHAT?!" his mother gasped and ran out along with the doctors as they went into the E.R. there was a scream and his mother ran faster. Her son had woken up, she thought. "We can't inject him with anything else, it'll mess up his nervous system." So they put his arm in a large tub of ice water. "AAAAAAAAAHHHH! S-STOP ST-STOP PLEASE!" The boy yelled as he began to thrash around against the restraints. The doctors' ignored his plea and tightened the belts that were holding him down. They poured some more cold water on the upper burns, that were closing in on his neck. Steam was now rising up fast and his mother rushed to his other side in an attempt to hold his hand but it was hidden by the belts. "STOP STOP PLEASE! UNCLE, UNCLE!" He thought yelling out 'uncle' for mercy would get them to quit but they didn't. They were merciless monsters, then they got the needle and stitches… Manitoba was the one going through this pain while in control. No. Mal FORCED him into control. He thought he was free when the cuffs evaporated as if like water and the next thing he knew, he was awake and in torturous pain. "Mal...you...malevolent little-"! As he looked at the needle with absolute terror, he tried his very best to scream but nothing came out...he was choking...just then, blood started to come out of his mouth, scaring his mother until she fell to her knees with tears in her eyes. Just when they were about to wheel him away to the operating room, something peculiar happened. His arms started to 'regenerate', the flesh was coming back and looking healthy as ever. Because of all the stress, he fell asleep again. His entire body was now fine, his pulse was regular, and he was sleeping like a baby. While he was still breathing heavily, his mother knew that the worst was over and started unbuckling the straps. The doctors' were hesitant to let her do this but allowed her anyway as she picked up her child and told them that they were leaving. No one argued. She put her son in the passenger seat to keep a close eye on him. And so, she started to drive, it was now night time so the headlights were turned on automatically. As they came up to a stoplight, the boy seemed to be waking up, his mother was both happy and paranoid. "Mom?" "Mike?" He nodded, telling her yes. Just then, mike had tears in his eyes and his mother was alarmed, "what's wrong?" She asked nervously. Mike looked down then back up, the tears now streaming down his face. "MOM! IT'S MAL, HE'S...I'M SCARED, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" His mother's blood ran cold at the sound of mal's name but tried to stay calm, "what's he done now?" Mike looked scared and hesitantly answered. "He was making me do mean things and hurting other people. He wouldn't let me leave,Now I can't, I can't leave without his permission, I'm trapped.I WANT TO LEAVE BUT HE WON'T LET ME." "Then how did you take control?" "Manitoba helped me. He hit me on the head, snapping me out of his spell then I escaped through one of the mirrors and found myself here. I don't know how long I have before he pulls me back in but all I know is that I have to stay awake no matter what. He pulls me back in when I'm sleeping, that's the limit of my knolledge basically." His mother was shivering and then looked back up at the street as the light turned green and she floored it to get to their house as fast as possible. When they finally reached the house, his mother brought him to the sink to splash some water in his face and told him that she'd watch him through the night to keep him from falling asleep.

Mike was relieved at this news and sat up on the couch beside his mother and everytime he started getting drowsy his mom would shake him a little and he'd open his eyes again. Then all of a sudden it seemed like something struck mike, his head shot up and his eyes lost their pupils and he was knocked out, his mother tried to shake him awake but...nothing. She knew that mal had taken him back and she couldn't do anything about it, she felt so helpless as she held her child in her arms and sobbed.


	13. Chapter 13 The Fight part 1

~Mike's mind~

Mike and mal were staring angrily at each other and the whole room was silent even manitoba who was watching the whole thing. "MAL! YOU LIED TO ME!...about everything" Mike yelled, mal stepped back with a sad shocked look, he remained silent. Manitoba took this opportunity to save the others while mike was talking to mal. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" mal yelled and he waved his hand in the air and flew it down quickly, shooting manitoba back against the wall knocking him unconscious. Mike had tears in his eyes as he watched mal throw one of his personalities out like trash, "MAL! STOP IT!" Mike yelled, mal smirked and began walking towards mike. He was backing away and started to move faster until he was running, mal began to chase him and was beginning to catch up. Mike just kept running, he all of a sudden felt mal catch his shirt as he yanked it back mike fell in front of mal, tripping him. 2 seconds went by before the two began to wrestle. It grew increasingly more brutal and they were starting to get tired, the two were banged up pretty bad before the two boys finally pushed off from each other. They were a few feet away from each other and huffing from the fight, mal had a nosebleed and a few black and blue bumps on his face, as did mike only he was coughing up blood. Mike, though, wouldn't give up, he got up and ran to manitoba trying to wake him up. While he was doing this, mike didn't even notice a moving shadow creeping up on him until he was completely enveloped by it. He turned around slowly and shaking as he saw mal standing behind him, almost completely healed and licking his jagged blade with a sadistic grin. Mike couldn't move, as though he was sent into a trance and was unable to look away. Mal put the blade to his neck and mike was just frozen in fear...then all of a sudden...he heard a grunt and all mike was able to see (since he couldn't move his head.) was a hand on top of mal's holding the knife and he shoved the weapon out of mal's hand and mike turned to see manitoba. He was smiling but it was a very small one, seeing as he had just been thrown against a wall. Mal looked behind him and all he saw was a hand in front of his face as his head was slammed into the wall, knocking him out, this deeply pissed off manitoba as he lunged at mal. He grabbed his hand and pulled it towards him, surprising manitoba as mal did the same to his head and the two were now comatose. Mal laughed evilly at his accomplishment.

Mike was dreaming about how the last few weeks had been with mal and how fun it was. He started to feel guilty for some reason, His first thought was that he was only jealous of zoey and that was when he started to go bad...but he was VERY wrong. He then saw the seeing mirror in front of him and it played all the moments that mal was in charge, starting from when he was hiding behind the fridge and his dad was holding the knife. Then it all went black, he remembered. He then saw his father getting stabbed and tried to look away but couldn't and saw zoey getting beat up, "she never betrayed me after all...mal's been lying to me this WHOLE time?!" Mike stayed watch…,regretfully and was crying the whole time. Mike started to get angry again, more so than ever, he clenched his fists and got up quickly as the black aura appeared once again and mike began running through the halls, searching for mal. The darkness came off of mike and started moving forward, quicker than mike could ever run actually, he was never able to see this dark aura anyway as he started opening doors. All of them led to good memories between mike and mal, all the games they played, all the pranks they made, all the funny jokes that they shared, mike started to cry and ran out into the hall again. He was gripping his head tightly and started convulsing along the ground, crying, confused. This made him frustrated and angry all over again, knowing it was mal's doing. His aura was growing continuously.

Meanwhile in mike's room, mal was sitting beside him when all of a sudden, he saw his dark aura. It then flew into mal...he was stunned at first then he felt tingly and he started to wobble a little until… "Haha! Mike! Thanks for giving me your anger, I deeply appreciate it!HA." It made him stronger. Then manitoba, who was across the room, started getting angry as well. Mal was getting more powerful by the second. Then mal froze and looked over at mike who was now crying in his sleep. "Mal...hel-...help...help me...no,no,no,NO!" Mike yelled and turned over in his blankets to face the wall. For some reason mal felt...guilty and walked over to mike. He sat down again and the room became silent for a while. Mal started to pet his head slowly and carefully, not to hit the bump. Mike calmed down but the tears wouldn't stop, "mal...don't leave...don't do it...please, I need you." Mal was shocked at this,_ mike STILL needs me, after all that I've done? _Mal thought curiously. He was caught in between, on one hand all he wanted was to kill people and get his revenge, on the other hand he just wanted everybody out of the way so that mike and him could play together always. "Leave the others, get rid of all of them, mike is yours...you FINALLY HAVE HIM!" Mal was stunned, "who's...who's there?" He asked afraid. "Don't be afraid, I'm here to help. "WHO ARE YOU?! WHERE ARE YOU?!" "I'm your friend." "Are you in my head?!" "In a way, you could say that I'm your conscience. I want to help you, I'm your friend." "NO, MIKE IS MY ONLY FRIEND!" "Listen, just listen,... Kill them…" "What…?" "Kill the people who tried to separate you two, you two were meant to be together!" "But…" " Am I wrong...mal?" Mal was beginning to get scared that there's now a voice in his head and it didn't help that his arm was starting to go numb, he tried to shake it and smack it a little but, nothing. "If you don't do something… I WILL!" Mal's arm started to move on it's own as he tried to hold it back, "LET GO OF ME!" "No, you're gonna kill wether you want to or not!" "NO! I DON'T WANT TO!" Manitoba heard him yell and turned around, he pretended to still be asleep but with one eye open as he saw mal freaking out. It looked like he was arguing with himself. Manitoba was alarmed but decided to remain quiet to see what happens. "You can't make me kill them, I WON'T LET YOU!" Manitoba was starting to wonder what was truly happening to him until something popped up in his head...but he felt stupid for thinking so. _A personality within a personality?_ He tried to ponder this but just shook his head knowing it's impossible….Then how could he explain this. Mal was now twitching trying to regain control. "TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!" _I am your evil side hahahahahahaha! "GET-GET OUTTA MY HEAD!" _Mal yelled. Manitoba was starting to freak out but kept it contained as he saw mal gripping his head tightly and his whole body began to shiver. Mal looked at manitoba, it was like his head had actually snapped around to face him and his eyes...were just blank...a blank brown, his face was expressing no emotion as opposed to how he was panicked just a few seconds ago. _This was no longer mal...it's someone else, but how can this be?_

~In MAL'S mind~

Mal was ALSO trying to piece this together, surprisingly, he remained calm and had a serious and determined look to get to the bottom of this. He got up and summoned the seeing mirror to, hopefully, reveal a few things. The questions he had in his mind were, "how could I have a personality?" Just then a memory showed up in the mirror. It was after him and his mother had gotten back from seeing his father and the conversation that he and his mother had after they entered the house: "What did you tell your father,..I heard yelling." "My father?"...no I think you're mistaking that old bastard for a relative of mine." "What...did you...tell...him?!". "Just that I won't support his case of denial in the court,...the poor sap was begging me. HA! as if! he was clearly asking the wrong person." "personality...personality, you mean…". …, "NO, NO...I'M NOT...I'M REAL...I'M REAL DAMMIT!"

This got him thinking and he remembered how upset he was with his mom after that. "Was I that determined to prove her wrong?" _They say "you can do anything if you put your mind to it"._ But I didn't think it was actually possible…. Mal had a theory going for him now. "Are me and mike REALLY sharing the same mind in one body. This was different from sharing the mind with the others. They were actually two minds in one body, him and mike. Mal's dream had FINALLY come true! He giggled a little out of pure joy, then he was reminded of his own problem yet again. He became serious again and continued to gaze at the mirror as it showed him something a bit more 'intriguing'. Just a few days ago, when mike first met zoey and he was watching through the mirror next to manitoba. The night before, after mike and mal played for a while, mal had woken up in the middle of the night. He didn't remember it so he just assumed he was sleepwalking until he got a close up, his eyes were open, clearly he was fully awake. "What?" Mal thought aloud and saw that his eyes were black again. Most of the time it was only when he was angry or feeling evil, would his eyes turn black. It's not like his black eyes were new to him or anything...but...he was just shocked at how malevolent he looked, _is this how people see me when I'm like this?" _He didn't want to think of himself as 'scary' persay but it DID make him feel uneasy. He continued to watch as it seemed like he was conjuring something, it looked to be...PAPER! _Come to think of it...when I got angry at manitoba and entered my room...there seemed to be more papers and more pens in the drawers. Like I'm being __encouraged__ to do these awful things...without my own knowing!_ Mal thought as he stepped back shakily. He tripped over his own foot and snapped out of it. Then it hit him, "MANITOBA! MIKE!" Mal yelled, worried. He put his hand up onto the mirror and focused, he was able to see into what was really going on while he's in here, manitoba was gripping his arm and trying to push it back as his evil self tried to take a swing at him. He already had a few cuts but he was still able to fight. Mal began to sweat and then turned his head to see mike, he was ok and still sleeping. He started to believe that his evil self put him under some kinda spell so that he wouldn't wake up. Mal was now biting his fingernails in nervousness, afraid for both mike AND manitoba. He tried to take control but couldn't, then an idea came to him, he wasn't sure it would work but it's worth a try.


	14. Chapter 14 The fight part 2 new persona!

When mal was thinking of the source to all of this it all came back to his burning hatred for his father. "That's how the others were made, though they couldn't do a damn thing about it. Those pacifists! I was the only one who actually HELPED mike with his problems. Though I was created from mikes pure hatred, the fact that I became so powerful just shows that mike has more hatred than I thought."..._ And if it was HATRED that created me and my other self then…_ "I GOT IT! You can't have good without bad so there must be my good half here somewhere else!...AND I KNOW JUST HOW TO SUMMON IT!" mal proudly stated holding his fist in power. He focused on the mirror again and it showed him all the good memories of him and mike playing together, his mind was just feeling nice and kind from this and mal was now sitting down in front of the mirror, his chin on his hands as if watching a movie and with a warm smile on his face. A quick gust of wind blew and mal felt a presence, he turned around fast to hopefully see an ally but no one was there. However mal still felt like someone was there, he waved his hand down and the mirror disappeared so that the place could be more silent, easier to notice someone walking. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Mal looked around frantically trying to find 'help'. Maybe he hadn't really summoned anyone yet, he sat down once again, closed his eyes, and thought about all the fun he had with mike. He started to laugh a little until the gust of wind came back, mal was half asleep at this point so he didn't notice. Just then...he got a flick to the forehead and he woke up immediately. He heard a giggle from behind him...but...it wasn't what he was expecting…. It was a...feminine laugh. He turned around and saw a person who was definitely a female version of him. Being 8 years old, she was flat (of course, just so there's no confusion on why it's obvious). Wearing the same shirt as mal and instead of jean shorts, she had the same colored jean skirt, black flats no socks. The hairstyle was similar to mal's; The flap of hair was still there and still covering the left eye only the rest of it went all the way down her back. Though her eyes didn't shimmer like svetlana's, they were mal's playful, happy, normal, brown eyes. Mal was shocked and speechless._ My good side...is a...girl?!_ "Hi, I'm bue".

(Pronunciation: BOO-AYE.) She said holding her hand out for him to shake it. "I-I'm...mal", he replied shaking her hand hesitantly, swallowing his pride that was recently struck. "So I heard 'ya need some 'elp." Bue said, already knowing the issue at hand, mal slowly nodded still in a bit of denial and a little surprised at the girl's strange accent. Bue had an annoyed look on her face, "jus' 'cause I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm 'onna be all frilly an' annoyin' like 'ol svet." Mal had a shocked look on his face,_ why is it that everybody can read my mind?_ "'Cause you're easy to read." "Are you psychic?" "Yeah". Bue told him bluntly and giggled. "Now then-" She raised her hand in front of her face and when she lowered it, she had war paint on her cheeks and a WWII hat on, it even had the poker cards on the lining and the strap was un buckled, she then stood up in a soldier pose and her hand was saluting, mal was stunned and instantly recognized what she was doing. "C'mon, soldier we have a new enemy, he goes by the title of...D!" "D?" mal repeated but then shrugged, deciding that it would be nice to have some fun again, as he did the same as bue and put his hand in front of his face as well and created the same war image on him. The two laughed and then focused together to summon their weapons. Mal, a paintball gun, bue, a slingshot with jagged rocks for ammo. They both waved their hands up quickly, in sync and the seeing mirror rose. It showed them what mike's dream was, it frightened the both of them. They held each other and shuddered. Mal, nor bue cared about how they looked like sissies at the moment and then bue turned to face mal and whispered her strategy in his ear. "Sure!" Mal replied. They both nodded in agreement. Bue summoned her own mirror and told mal that she would deal with D and jumped in, while mal jumped into the other that would lead him to mike's dream.

~Meanwhile~

Manitoba was now wrestling evil mal (evil-er…) in the hall trying to grab his knife while also trying not to get stabbed. He eventually threw him off and into the wall. Manitoba got up and was breathing heavily. Just then, a slingshot appeared in his hand and his pockets became full. Manitoba backed away slowly as evil mal got up and held the slingshot up, manitoba closed his eyes preparing for the worst when all of a sudden… "OW!" The boy yelped in pain , holding his cheek. Manitoba just scratched his head in confusion as he saw the boy repeatedly firing shots at his body and face, then he started to giggle at this, "how's THAT for payback, huh!" Manitoba taunted. After he finally ran out of ammo, he looked at manitoba with a kind smile and walked up to him, he was a little intimidated by this but got over it. "'Sup, name's Bue. You're...manny aren't 'ya?" At first he looked annoyed by the nickname but then began to laugh when he heard the feminine voice as he quickly realized he was talking to a female personality. Bue was incredibly annoyed at this and was beginning to get angry. Manitoba just kept on laughing harder and harder, bent down, holding his knees. _ It's not THAT funny. _He wiped a tear from his eye, _MAL has a female personality?!...and I thought he had some REAL pride! haha guess not! _ Bue was furious and embarrassed when she heard his thoughts. She kicked him as hard as she possibly could in the shin and he plummeted to the ground with a big impact. "Mal has PLENNY' of pride an' who cares tha' he has a girl persona, what 'bout 'ol svet. 'Cause I think SHE'S a wuss, I'd be more humiliated havin' HER in ma' mind...ya cocky li'l sexist!" Manitoba looked up shocked. Then bue's face quickly went from angry to kind as she helped him up, he'd never been so confused in his life. Then she bowed, her hair was a little messy so she fixed it then held her hand out for him to shake. "Sorry, let's try again, I'm Bue. Mal's nice personality." "HUH?!" She sighed, "nice people don't like disrespect, an' everyone has a tempa'." She explained poorly and giggled threateningly, making a chill go down his spine. "Yours, shorter than others." Manitoba sarcastically stated. She lifted her leg back slowly, ready to kick once again. He stepped back in fear and apologized. She nodded happily. "Anyway...wanna see what I really look like...from mal's mind." He nodded hesitantly afraid for the result of a "no". She focused and lifted her hand up to bring one of the mirrors up so it could show her real reflection. Manitoba was rather surprised at what he saw. She actually looked like a girl instead of just simply lipstick and glossy eyes. He saw the long hair, the skirt, the flats. This was most definitely a female mal. Manitoba started to chuckle once more then the mirror changed and viewed mal's reflection instead as bue tripped and fell back on her butt, she shook her head and returned to being mal. "Ugh, 'nothing to be ashamed of, my ass'". Mal thought aloud as he got up,dusting himself off, his deep and dark voice had returned, manitoba shut up and just stayed quiet. Then they heard a faint voice coming from the room, "guys?..." Mal shot up with joy and ran to the door to find mike rubbing his eyes and wrapped in the blanket. Mal pounced on him, hugging him warmly. "Mal?" Mike asked confused. Mike had forgotten what had happened before he was knocked out and luckily his nightmare as well. "Mike I have great news!" "What?" "We're gonna be sharing a mind!" Mike was confused at first but then his face began to light up as he started to understand. He'd known mal long enough to get his vague sentences. They hugged, neither of the boys were facing manitoba and he wasn't facing them. Just then mal's eyes turned red...and a gruesome smile showed. Mike smiled happily now being able to stay with his best friend forever. Manitoba was curious as to what was REALLY going on, something didn't seem right. "Mal...just who are you?!"


	15. Chapter 15 The Fight part 3

~In mal's mind~

Mal was sitting down, both legs and arms crossed with a deep-in-thought look. Bue was in the same pose and the two were back-to-back and were completely silent. Bue was holding her slingshot and mal had his paintball gun. They were looking for D so that they could take him down. Just then bue heard footsteps and instantly got up, alerting mal. "What'd you hear bue?" "I think he's close…but I'm not sure." "Can't you read his mind?" "I can it's just that ...he's stealthy. And by that, I reluctantly mean, he's smarter than us. Normally someone thinks about where they are and what they're gonna do next but this guy's just thinkin' 'bout murder. Not how he's gonna do it, he's just gonna do it, surprising both himself AND us." Bue paused as she heard another footstep, this time louder so mal heard it too. The steps were so slow that bue started getting frustrated, mal saw her turning red but didn't know what to do until all of a sudden…. D pounced out from behind them, mal fell over and bue screamed. D snickered and stole mal's gun after it fell on the ground. He slapped bue across the face just when she was about to tackle him and then pushed her to the ground along with mal. The two looked at each other with shock then looked back up to see D's shadowy figure, they could see his teeth sharpen and his eyes glowed crimson, shining through the shadow. Bue was especially annoyed with how pathetic she looked, as did mal. Both their eyes turned black and the dark circles returned as well and their teeth began to sharpen. Their auras came back and it was then fed to D, the two were shocked and wondered what the hell just happened. D then snapped his fingers and disappeared. "That bastard!" Mal yelled angrily. "That son of a bitch needs to die in a hole!" Bue shouted growing more and more angry by the second just like mal. All they could think of was hate and hate alone. Mal looked at bue and started suggesting ideas of torture for when he's caught as they focused and changed into their soldier uniforms though the war makeup wasn't needed anymore thanks to the dark circles. Bue then snapped her fingers and the scenery had changed completely, it no longer looked anything remotely similar to the subconscious but instead took the form of a REAL battlefield. Mal was able to do this as well like when he played sailor with mike and the scenery looked just like a raging storm. He was surprised at this because bue was basically a 'newborn' and she already had the exact same power as him not to mention her own 'abilities'. But mal didn't care that much as he heard gunfire. The two ducked and ran to their own base which had a barbed wire perimeter, the two leaped over as if they were champion jumpers. and stuck the landing in sync...once again. Bue's slingshot disappeared and she closed her eyes to focus as she summoned her new weapon.. . Grenades. Bue's eyes were becoming more dark and devilish as she began to think of evil deeds. Mal started thinking of how mike would love this, since Soldier was his favorite game. When he thought of this, he was becoming more happy. Tears were now running down his face and he didn't know why until he realized that D was actually controlling him. He was making him and bue angry to give him more power. MAL...the great mal had been manipulated and the thought of not really being in charge just pissed him off greatly but then calmed down as his face returned to normal. He then saw bue with the grenade trigger between her teeth and was about to yank it from the trigger when mal grabbed the hand that was holding the bomb and shook her. She didn't snap out of it so mal reluctantly decided to let himself become a punching bag. "GIRL'S ARE WUSSES….AND...GET BACK IN THE KITCHEN!" He shouted, bue was steaming as she punched him, shooting him into the sky. When he landed, she started to pummel him but...it DID turn her back to normal. Mal healed himself when he focused again. Bue was panting from her 'work out' and then looked at mal with shock, she didn't know he had healing power. He learned he had this power when he was fighting mike. "HA TAKE THAT D, YOU CAN'T CONTROL US ANYMORE!" Mal yelled up at the sky. Bue was so peeved that she had just been controlled that her black aura came back, but her face remained normal and she hugged mal but only to give him her battle strategy. Mal turned to look at bue confused, "is it possible?" Mal questioned, bue sighed thinking that mal would've known something like this. "Of COURSE we can become invisible, if we can change scenery, our clothes and faces, then I'm pretty sure we can turn invisible!" Bue reminded him sarcastically, then bue started to focus again and her body slowly started to disappear, she was giggling at how cool this was until all of a sudden when she reached her head and began focusing on that...it wouldn't disappear so she just looked like a floating head. Mal was laughing increasingly hard at this point until bue's invisible hand grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer to her face, she was about to tell him off when they heard another shot, this time it was a cannon. They ducked even though they were in a trench and covered their heads. "I'll get back-up." Mal told her bluntly with a tiny hint of actual fear in his voice. "WHAT?! WE CAN HANDLE THIS ON OUR OWN WE DON'T NEED ANY INTERFERENCE!" Bue yelled, just then mal and bue heard threateningly loud footsteps coming closer as they hesitantly looked in it's direction. "I don't think we have much of a choi-" "I CAN TAKE 'EM!" Bue told him as she jumped up from the trench and leaped over the barbed wire, mal tried to stop her by grabbing what he assumed was her arm instead it was her ankle and she shook him off. But when she stood up, no one was there. She began to run straight forward assuming that D was somewhere near by, her suspicions were correct when she heard cackling coming from behind her and turned around to find nothing behind her but the battleground scene and her and mal's barbed wire trench. Bue became nervous but that was quickly replaced by anger as she spun around to find D right in front of her, just inches from her, now, sweating face. He had a cocky grin on his face. Mal was shocked as he immediately summoned one of the mirrors to reveal mike who was just sitting in his room. The mirror was literally right behind him. Mike felt a presence as his eyes became blank and mal pulled him through the mirror to his side of the brain. Mike's eyes became normal again as he looked around, confused. Mal told him what was happening but rather vaguely, not to give away too much info on D and what he had done to manitoba. He just told him that he was playing another game of soldier only this time, the villain was real and the game was a bit more serious than last time, he nodded and mal put his hand over his face and his body had the exact same war image as him and bue. Just then, mal tried something that he hadn't done before; communicate through telepathy.

Manitoba was sitting down in the hall half asleep when all of a sudden, _Manitoba! Manitoba! _He shot up and had his arms raised in the position to fight. "Wh-who's there?!" _It's me, mal...listen I need your hel- _"MAL?! HOW DID YOU GET IN MY HEAD...AND GET OUT!" Manitoba threatened. _My god you're stupid, anyway just listen to me for a second...I need your help, URGENTLY! _"What for?" Manitoba asked, already starting to get used to this second voice. _Just…, I need you to free svetlana and vito. _"Why only them?" _Because...THERE'S NO TIME I JUST NEED YOU TO DO THIS FOR ME!_ "Why should I?"_ Because if you don't…..,look down at your chest. _Manitoba did so and saw a floating knife hovering by his heart, he jumped and looked around wondering how mal was able to see him. _Don't bother looking...JUST GET THEM!...there...the door's open now. HURRY! _Manitoba obeyed his command, gulped, and started running down the hall to where the others were trapped.

"GUYS!" "MANNY!" Everyone yelled for joy, manitoba ignored their cheer as he began to free svetlana and vito. "Aye 'ya whippersnapper what about me?!" Chester grunted, manitoba felt bad for this but he knew he just had to obey mal's command. Mal noticed that he got vito and svetlana and summoned mirrors for them to jump through to meet him here. He told manitoba to pull them through and he would take care of the rest as he grabbed him and yanked him in with them. Mal explained to them what was going on as he changed their images as well. None of them wanted to help mal in any way shape or form until he threatened them with multiple ways to violently die. They said yes after that and mal smiled kindly like bue after she got her way. "MAL, LOOK. BUE'S IN TROUBLE!" Bue was being strangled while lifted in the air and her body had became visible once again. Mal jumped up from the trench and over their barbed wire and summoned a rounded shield as he was about to charge D, bue grabbed the arm that was holding her neck and used it to flip him over, he landed with a heavy impact. She was still holding on to his arm, then took the other one and began spinning. D was in the air now while bue kept on spinning until she used all her strength and threw him far away into the sky, he glimmered like a star for a second then disappeared. The dust cloud that had covered their fight moved out of the way to show bue wiping sweat off her brow and then dusting herself off. She looked to the others with a sly and cocky grin that looked almost sadistic, scaring the others. Mal didn't show any sign of fear as he walked up to bue and began to argue, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO CHARGE HIM!" "AND I TOLD YOU WE DIDN'T NEED ANY RECRUITERS!" "YOU NEARLY DIED!" "BUT I ALSO KICKED HIS ASS! SO WHAT'S WRONG?!" "...Oh forget it…" Mal began to walk away. "You're only leavin' 'cause 'ya don't have a comeback!" Mal turned around with a scowl and an annoyed look as he began to walk back toward her. She got into a fighting stance as did mal. Everyone was holding each other, shaking already predicting what was about to go down. "I won't take it easy on you just 'cause you're a girl." "Me neither."

They lunged at each other with such great speed that you could hardly see their feet move. They jumped up about 20 feet in the air and they had imagined a bright sun in the background, blinding the audience of personalities but were still able to see their pitch black silhouettes as they began to fight in the air. It started with kicks going at lightning speed and as they fell they began to punch. When they fully landed, a huge dust cloud surrounded them, blocking the view of the fight but the others were still able to see their moving shadows clearly and with great ease because of the newly imagined sun. They all were shuddering at how the battle became more and more frighteningly gruesome. Even vito was scared at how brutal the fight was, he knew mal was strong, strong enough to put his father in the E.R. and he had just witnessed first-hand at bue's strength while battling D. This would be a close fight, manitoba knew this better than anybody considering the thrashing, pummeling, and beating he took. He thought about this, rubbing some of his injuries. Then the dust cloud finally fully cleared to reveal the two KO'd. They pulled the 'slam both heads' routine, unfortunately they were so strong and equal in this category that this move knocked them both out. Their faces were badly bruised, nose bleeds, scratch marks (from each others nails), and some bite marks. Everyone walked up and each with a different reaction, manitoba was laughing because finally MAL got beat up for a change, mike kicked his other shin and he fell to the ground, vito was shocked but not as shocked as he could be since he's see this kinda stuff before, svetlana was sick to her stomach with worry for the both of them.

Mike sat down next to a sleeping mal and tried to wake him up, shaking him awake would just hurt him more instead...he poked the parts of his face that weren't bruised, which was rather difficult to find. Svetlana tried tugging on bue's hair a little, that always woke HER up at least…,no luck. Just then a huge and powerful gust of wind threw everyone back at least 30 feet or so. A very small dust cloud appeared as everyone slowly struggled to get back up. The sun was no more as mike and manitoba caught a glimpse of a moving shadowy figure. Mike tried to run back to mal again, afraid of the incoming figure when another flow of harsh wind came through, throwing all the personalities back in the trench. A forcefield then surrounded them, mike banged on the walls as the shadow was starting to come to light, it showed...deadly crimson eyes. Manitoba and mike were getting desperate and afraid for the two helpless victims as they started banging as hard as they could and yelled at the top of their lungs. D's horrifying face had now come to light and ignored the two boys as he checked bue and mal's pulses. They were fine just unconscious, "YOU STAY AWAY FROM THEM, YOU SLIME!" Mike yelled. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THEM OR YOU'RE DEAD!" Manitoba screamed furiously now kicking the forcefield with all his might. D didn't even bother with them as he picked up bue and mal and threw them over his shoulder and walked away back into the darkness to where they were no longer visible, the darkness seemed to just be a place where light never reached but it was more than that...MUCH more. Mike had never been so afraid for someone else. Without mal, he had focused so much on what HE was afraid of, no one he knew was ever afraid or at least, he never saw them scared. But this time...even when the person didn't show it, he was really afraid FOR them as if they couldn't be scared or show it. Mike had to save mal at all costs even at his very own LIFE and for some reason...he just knew that manitoba would do the same. "MAL! BUE! I PROMISE I'LL SAVE YOU GUYS DON'T YOU WORRY!"


	16. Chapter 16 The Badass battle!

Bue had woken up in a panic. She was frantically looking around until she finally realized where she was….in the darkness. Bue looked behind her struggling to turn around because she had been chained to her chair. Mal was sleeping in his chair, the chairs were back-to-back and chained together so neither of the two could move and there was one light source above. They seemed to be in some sort of room but it was like it didn't exist. The ground were big red tiles, that seemed normal enough but what really made bue feel uneasy was that it looked like all walls were non-existent it was like there was color and yet none at all. The walls looked like they were a visible purple-ish haze just flowing around the (assumibely) room. Bue was frightened and sweating, she tried to wake up mal by kicking his seat. "MAL! MAL! PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEAAAASSE WAKE UP!" Mal started to open his eyes then they both heard laughter and mal fully woke up as he was frantically looking around, trying to find where the voice came from, as was bue. Then D came out of the shadows with a very intimidating look on his face. Bue got frustrated again as her aura came back, D noticed and snickered, "your temper is your weak point...you are aware of this, yes?" She spit on his face and then tried to focus on making the chains disappear, she nudged mal to join her. D chuckled as he wiped the spit off his face and he focused on the chains as well. Bue heard his thoughts and grew more angry, hoping it would give her more strength to break the chains. When D focused on the chains they got tighter and then electrocuted the two, making them scream in pain. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?!" Mal yelled breathing heavily. "'What do I want' you say? I'd just like a few helper's. You know, like sidekicks." "DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME A SIDEKICK OR I'LL-" "you'll what, you can't do much tied to those chairs, 'ya know." Bue and mal growled in sync again. D walked over to mal, lifted his chin and got right up in his face, making mal shake but covered it with anger. "'ya know, I've gained many new powers just from simply watching you two. Bue you rely on and gain strength, but it's only caused by your short temper, mal, you have more self control than any of us, you've snapped yourself out of my spells...multiple times and it's quite impressive really. In a way you two are like Yin and Yang, you balance each other out perfectly. But! there is ONE thing that you two have most in common…...your HATRED! Seeing you both so angry just makes me so happy and delighted...I wanna see you like that all the time.." D said as he was about to put his hand onto mal's face, bue used all her strength to turn over the chair. It didn't help that they're now on their side, on the ground, bue tried to free her hand and use it to help them scoot away. She managed to get her hand out and reached as far as she could to pull them away from D. He chuckled at how feeble their attempt was as he stepped on bue's foot making her yelp in agony. D bent down so they were face to face, he whispered something in her ear while she struggled to just get as far away from the tyrant as possible but what he had said just made her pause completely as her blood ran cold and a chill ran down her restrained spine he put his hand on her face while she was shaking it violently trying to keep his hand away. It was futile and bue was now out cold. D was now walking up to a woozy mal, his hand had come so close to his face that it already took it's toll as D finished the job and now the two were fully unconscious making D laugh. "I'm gonna kill 'em...and you're gonna help me….bue. heh."

The rest of the personalities were still desperately banging at the forcefield until it seemed like something had hit mike. He heard cackling and it rang through his ears as loud as possible. He fell to his knees holding his ears in pain as the sound got louder and louder, manitoba spotted mike in pain and bent down to ask what's wrong. "'WHAT'S WRONG?!IT'S THAT SCREECHING LAUGHTER, CAN'T YOU HEAR IT?! IT'S BANGING THROUGH MY EARS AND IT WON'T STOP!" "All I can hear is you yelling mike!" All the personalities stopped their banging and yelling and went to mike wondering what was wrong. "Aye yo, what's goin' on with mike?" Vito asked, svetlana went to comfort him but when she laid her hand on his back to rub it he shoved her away and she fell into a mud puddle with a horrified look on her face. Vito looked angry but manitoba stopped him from pouncing onto mike. "Vito, it's D, he's controlling him. This isn't mike that's doing this." Just then, manitoba and vito saw some sort of light shoot through the field and hit mike hard, his eyes went blank and he was about to fall until...two hands came into the forcefield and grabbed mike. D was trying to steal him away from the only people who were actually able to protect him. Mike was starting to get pulled out of the barrier when manitoba, vito, and svetlana all grabbed him and tried to yank him back in. Instead of tuggawar, it was rather short before mike disappeared along with the arms. Everyone sat down in defeat as manitoba finally realized why mal needed all of them._ It wasn't to help him fight D...it was for US to protect mike... I guess mal knew something like this would happen so he brought mike here...just so he could see him...one last time. But he knew the dangers and so, THAT'S why he told us to come here…: "It's me, mal...listen I need your hel- _"MAL?! HOW DID YOU GET IN MY HEAD...AND GET OUT!". _My god you're stupid, anyway just listen to me for a second...I need your help, URGENTLY! _"What for?" _Just…, I need you to free svetlana and vito. _"Why only them?" _Because...THERE'S NO TIME I JUST NEED YOU TO DO THIS FOR ME!_ "Why should I?"_ Because if you don't...look down at your chest_, _don't bother looking for where I am...JUST GET THEM!...there...the door's open now. HURRY!"_

Manitoba smiled at this now knowing mal's intentions were actually GOOD, "so, the little dictator really DOES have a heart after all...heh….guess I misjudged him...sorry mate." He giggled a little sadly with some guilt in his voice. He laid down on the mud, not caring wether he got dirty or not and tipped his hat over his face to sleep. The others looked down at him in shock, "MANITOBA...VAT ARE YOU DOINK?!" Svetlana yelled, vito stopped his banging and looked down also with a confused face. "Guys...listen, this barrier may or may not last forever but as long as it's up...we can't get out...unless D permits us. If a seeing mirror popped up, it would only be for a ride back home, and that wouldn't help us ONE BIT...NOW WOULD IT?! SO QUIT YOU'RE BANGING AND LET'S GET SOME REST!" Manitoba ordered, the others were just in complete silence and took one last glimpse of the outside before obliging manitoba's command. Though they WERE kinda shocked at how quickly he lost his temper, he's usually one of the coolest personalities. They went to sleep and tried to think of some sort of plan for tomorrow.

Mike had woken up on the floor of some strange room. He heard chuckling coming from nearby as two figures walked out of the pitch blackness, it was revealed to be bue and mal...but their heads were down but mike still felt relieved, seeing his two friends. He ran up to hug mal but instead...he got shoved back onto the ground. When he looked up, at first he was just confused as he got up again then mal and bue at the same time lifted their heads up fast making mike step back a little. Then...he saw their faces...mike was absolutely terrified as he started back again...their eyes were dark, fearsome, crimson red. They had the dark circles as well as the sharp teeth and had a sick, menacing grin on their faces. Mike kept walking back until...he tripped and fell into someone's arms. He looked up and saw D, mike jumped back in fear. Though, he landed right by mal as he kicked him in the stomach making him fall on his butt. D walked up to bue and kissed her hand then started to lead her toward mike. Mike was shivering as D looked down on him, then he looked to mal with his crimson eyes meeting his as he asked mal a rather important question; "Hey mal...what do you think we oughta do with him, I was thinking of killing him but my second idea is a little 'converting'". Mal blew his hair out of his face with a bored look and arms crossed as he tried contemplating what to do. "I say the 'converting'." D sighed, knowing he'd go with anything but murder, it seemed that even with the hypnosis he still cares for mike...even if it's just a little. Mike was shaking in his ball with his head down. D was walking up to mike slowly, mike lifted his head up and saw mal whose face was beginning to change as mike gazed at mal with sad eyes and D's hand was now right above his face and inching closer. Mal had the look of pity and regret as mike's vision began to fade, at the last moment before D had finally engulfed his face and mike was about to fall asleep, he saw mal running up to charge D and successfully tackled him before mike could be put under his spell. D pushed him off, "BUE, NOW!" Bue rushed over to grab mal and restrain him for further hypnosis. Mike's whole body was numb and his vision was incredibly hazy but he was still able to make out some of the figures. Mal was struggling for freedom as D came up to him, it was when he looked at your eyes that you would fully change, mal kept his eyes tightly shut. "Fine then...if you won't obey me then I'm sure HE will!" "NO!...I'll… b-behave….I-I swear…." Mal opened his eyes again but still looked at D very coldly. As D came back up to him and this time gazed for a much longer time, getting the spell imprinted on his brain. Though mal tried to struggle...he just couldn't close his eyes until he eventually calmed down and his eyes turned crimson once more and ALL of his good memories of mike had now been erased. "M-m-ma-ma-MAL!NOOOOOO!" Mike yelled, starting to gain more control over his body. After bue let go of mal, mal came over to mike who was scared and sobbing. "Do it….PROVE I can trust you!" D told him, mal bent down and slowly raised his hand and mike started to shake it away, he tried to run but couldn't then mal put his hand onto mike's face and he was unconscious. The last thing he heard was mal's laughter and saw his glowing red eyes.

~On mikes side~

Chester was still held by the restraints and was sleeping until a mirror showed up in front of him, startling him. "WEHEYEH!" Chester shrieked. He calmed down until he saw a person in the reflection, it looked like mal which made him yelp again. "Chester...it's not m-" "MAL!" Chester accused. "Wait a minute 'ya little….YOU'RE NOT MAL!" "Are 'ya do-" "YOU'RE THAT BUE GIRL, AREN'T 'YA?!" The BOY slapped his forehead and dragged it down his face slowly. Then a thought crossed his head and he raised an eyebrow, "hold on….HOW do you know about bue?" Chester whistled without making eye contact but he accidently looked at something that grabbed the boy's attention. "What's that 'ya old fool?!" He focused and brought the object down and it was a mirror, he turned it around to see...a signature...it was an M on the back. "MAL!" His eyes turned red, scaring chester, it was D. "THAT LITTLE! I'LL GET HIM NO MATTER WHAT!" D screamed, he broke the mirror on his knee and ran off, as the mirror disappeared. "WAIT!...aw boy….what am I gonna do now?...oy." Chester sighed.


	17. Chapter 17 the deadly crimson eyes

~Mal's side (hope it's not getting confusing…)~

Manitoba woke up as he heard footsteps nearing the field where they were being held. He jumped up, alerting the others. He saw someone walk up….but it wasn't D…. It was mike. Manitoba laughed for joy then he saw another person next to him….it was bue and both of their heads were down. He stopped laughing and his face changed knowing something was wrong, "where's….mal?" Svetlana and vito had awoken, when they heard manitoba ask where mal was, for some reason it sounded so clear like they couldn't hear anything else and so they hopped up and saw the two mysteriously walking closer to them. instead of joy, their faces were expressing concern. "It's just bue und mike….I'm vorried." Svetlana told them. "Aye...maybe they..uh...escaped!" Vito suggested, trying to calm her down. Manitoba looked scared but sighed in hopes that his thoughts were wrong. "But if THEY escaped then WHAT ABOUT MAL?!" He snapped. Vito jumped back in question of manitoba's odd behaviour. Just then, he turned around and now he had a good look of both bue's and mike's faces even with their heads down. Manitoba was shaking in fear with what he saw, their eyes glowed crimson...just...like...D's. Just then, mike jumped into and through the force field and clutched manitoba's neck as he pounced on him. Bue did the same to svetlana, vito tried to yank bue off of her but she just pushed him away with one hand and he plummeted to the hard ground. It's obvious that even with his muscles a GIRL was stronger than him. This struck a huge blow to his pride. "WHY?! WHY ARE YOU TWO DOI-" Mike tightened his grip, cutting him off. Then the two exchanged glances and both said in sync; "HE told us to do it and WE obey. Mal didn't so that's why he's getting punished." They giggled at the idea of torture and manitoba just had a horrified look on his face, he mustered up his strength and pushed mike off him, he then grabbed him by the back of his shirt and threw him off a couple feet. He then went to bue who didn't pay any mind to manitoba as svetlana was turning blue, he grabbed bue by her hair...hard...he almost yanked it off her scalp. The two landed with a splash (anything past and or in the trench was soaking wet mushy mud). Manitoba ran up to them and yanked them both off the ground by their shirts and close to his face. "Now you listen, and you listen well… where...is...D?!" They looked at each other with bored and sarcastic expressions._ BUE, MIKE! DON'T YOU DARE TELL HIM WHERE I AM OR YOU'LL GET THE SAME PUNISHMENT AS MAL! _Bue and mike looked at manitoba then at each other, "WE SWEAR D! WE WON'T!" They yelled with their eyes closed tightly as manitoba's face went from angry to concerned. Their faces became normal again and they began to cry, manitoba dropped them and they fell on their knees gripping their ears and shaking their heads as if to say "no". Bue was the first to look up but was struggling to move at all, her eyes were brown again. "Manitoba...h-help us...please-" bue coughed up blood and manitoba stepped back, "-the farther we're away from D the more his spell wears off…*cough*...if you were to summon a mirror than we could be transported to mike's side…*cough*...and then we coul-" Bue tried to finish her sentence but then fell over. Mike was shaking and tried to wake bue up as he pleaded to manitoba. He stepped back more in fear but then snapped out of it when he saw mike's sad begging eyes as he began to focus in hopes of summoning a mirror. A light started to shine through the ground as a mirror began to appear but then something happened to bue. She shook her head violently, until mike realized something… She was starting to go under D's control and he had to stop it. "EVERYONE! GET IN THE MIRROR...I'LL STAY HERE!" Manitoba was surprised at mike's plea as he quickly shoved bue through the mirror, sending her to his side. Svetlana, vito, and manitoba stood their ground. "NO WAY! we're not just gonna leave you here what about D?!" Manitoba argued. Mike's eyes turned black out of frustration, "GET IN THE MIRROR DAMMIT! I HAVE TO HELP MAL ALONE!" Mike ran up to vito and svetlana and dragged them by their ears as he pushed them through the mirror as well. "MANITOBA, YOU TOO!" "MATE NO I CAN'T I'VE GOTTA HELP HIM TOO 'YA DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Mike held his head, shaking it as the mirror started to fade, mike turned his focus on to the mirror so it wouldn't fully disappear and pulled manitoba impatiently toward and into it. Mike felt a sigh of relief now that most of his friends were safe...but he didn't celebrate for long as the force field vanished and he heard mal scream as laughter followed. Mike got up and ran toward the sound.

Though on mike's side, manitoba was banging on the mirror that he had been thrown into but he wasn't able to go back, then he saw mike running away and was yelling through the mirror hoping he could hear him then...the mirror disappeared. He fell to his knees feeling so helpless. Meanwhile, svetlana was carrying bue as vito was wiping the blood from her mouth while she was sleeping. Svetlana carried bue off to mike's room so she could sleep in a real bed then vito went off to free chester and manitoba just thought about how he would be able to make it up to mal.

On mal's side, mal was getting "The Dunking Treatment", How it works:

A big tank of water(like a small pool almost.)

and a chair suspended by some ropes

a person is strapped tightly to the chair (so that there's no squirming or escape.)

then they're asked a series of questions (like an interrogation).

If the person holding the ropes or asking the questions doesn't like the answer (or if they refuse to answer).

They will be dunked under the water for as long as their breath can hold.

Mal was in the chair and D was asking the questions. "HOW DO YOU KEEP BREAKING MY SPELLS?!" D demanded, at this point mal's eyes were only black but the crimson was gone, he had snapped himself out of D's spell once again. "You lied...and I noticed...you said YOU WEREN'T GOING TO DO ANYTHING TO MIKE IF I OBEYED!" D dunked him in the water for 30 seconds. "BUT YOU DIDN'T!" Mal smirked then the look turned to sarcastic boredom. "I don't do the whole 'being ordered around' thing. Believe me...your spells work..it's just that they're worthless." D was enraged as he dunked mal again, this time, a whole minute. "It's just gonna get longer and longer 'ya know until your lungs can't take anymore." D taunted, he then focused and put his hand onto the big tank and it sent an electrical current shocking mal. He screamed in pain and his black aura came back, making D stronger once more. Mal was beginning to feel weaker, his pride was shrinking and he was growing stubborn. "You….little…...prick…!" He got dunked again and got shocked again as well, instead of screaming he just took deep breaths. "What are 'ya blaming ME for, I'M not the reason your spells are crap." D was so pissed, he dunked him, put his hand on the tank and didn't bring him up. 1:35 seconds went by and mal's face was starting to turn red. Then D heard footsteps, he knew it was mike and didn't care but he reinforced his spell anyway. Mike stepped into the red room with no walls and his eyes were crimson once more D turned around and saw an unconscious mal but then the footsteps coming toward him got faster until they were running, D looked behind him just to get pounced on by mike. He punched D making him dizzy as he ran over to the ropes to bring mal up. There were little stairs that led up to the side of the chair, mike climbed up them and started poking mal's face. put his fingers to the side of his neck to check his pulse...it was very faint. Mike also noticed he wasn't breathing, he immediately gave him mouth-to-mouth and his color started to return to normal. Mal's eyes slowly opened. The first thing mal saw was mike standing beside him smiling with tears in his eyes. Mike hugged him for joy but D quickly got up and then ran to the ropes, mal wasn't looking at D nor was mike as he yanked the ropes then let go. Mike was now underwater with mal. Mike was about to unbuckle the straps holding mal when all of a sudden….D put both his hands to the tank and focused, he electrocuted them with all his might as millions of air bubbles escaped their mouths all at once. Mike tried his best to keep moving, he started to unbuckle. Then he saw mal, begging for air just as him. Mike used all his strength to lift the chair above the water so mal could get some air. Mike still had yet to take another breath by jumping to the surface, as the air ran out of him, he started to move faster but the water's density didn't help. D was surprised at how long mike could hold his breath, but he saw him running out as he shocked the tank once again. About five buckles were undone but mal was turning red again, mike lifted the heavy chair and mal caught his breath. He felt guilty that mike had to do all this alone since he was restrained and couldn't move. D shocked the tank again, this time for a longer period and mike became paralyzed. Instead of floating to the top like a fish, he just sank to the bottom….there was no air left in him, his lungs were completely deflated. D laughed and the one eye hidden from his hair started to shine through so both eyes were now visible and glowing. His laughter grew louder and louder and his own black aura started to appear and it grew bigger and bigger until it almost enveloped the whole room.

~On the outside (the real one this time...been a while huh.)~

Mike's body was on his bed and his mother was sitting beside just waiting for her child to wake up. She caressed his cheek then closed her eyes tightly and looked down in depression. "Oh please...please wake up honey….that's all I ask….even if you were someone else...I'd still love you…" Just then mike opened one of his eyes and smiled kindly at his mother. She turned to face her son and rubbed her eyes making sure this was real. She hugged her baby tightly and sobbed tears of joy. "It's all right…". His mother was frozen to hear a female voice, she let go and asked wether this was svetlana or not. "Nope I'm bue! It's a pleasure to meet mal- I-I mean m-mike's mom!" Mike's mom was slowly reaching for her hand but then bue grabbed it quickly and shook it fast….hoping to make her forget what she said. "Wait wait wait wait wait….were you about to say MAL'S MOM?!...WHAT'S GOING ON IN THERE PLEASE TELL ME...I NEED UPDATES!" Bue decided to not worry the anxious woman and lied her way out of it. "Well mike's fine, he's in his room with the others, mal set them free with just a snap of his fingers. When mike first entered his mind after the hospital there was a fight between the two...mike won. So mike was all sleepy because it took so long. I was there watching from the shadows. They both walked away with a couple bruises but they're fine, me and the others started lecturing mal on what he did and all that...'ya know…. In fact he even started doing some good deeds so he's a good guy now. And guess what! We were playing SOLDIER, it was my first time and it was soooo fun! Though I think we must of lost track of time…". Bue looked up at the night sky through the bedroom window, assuming that at least more than just one day went by. Her mother sighed in relief, believing bue, _what reason would I have NOT to believe her...she seems like a sweet girl to me._ She thought with a warm smile. Just then, when her mother wasn't looking and bue was staring at the moon...her hair flap came over her eye...and the one that was visible started to glow….crimson.


	18. Chapter 18 Soldier of darkness

~Mike's side~

"EVERYVONE! BUE'S GONE!" Svetlana yelled alarmed when manitoba heard this he knew exactly what happened. "Aw man...she's taken control." Manitoba seemed to always know these kind of things, he remembered walking by mike's room recently and saw a seeing mirror. He told the others this and they seemed shocked. "Aye yo rememba',we don't know a whole lotta 'bout bue...she's MAL'S personality...for all we know, she could be just as evil as D!" Vito stated, svetlana nodded in agreement that it WAS a good point. "But...guys...I just kinda have a feeling that...she's good...I mean….she said she was mal's NICE personality." Manitoba reassured them. They were still in disbelief…. Just then...they heard an explosion, everyone turned around in horror as an earthquake started. They all ran out of the hallway as the rumbling of the earthquake became more intense. Once everyone made it out of the hall, they almost fell over. Svetlana and vito were holding each other but manitoba stood his ground….The darkness was coming for them.

~Mal's side~

Mal had managed to free his hand as he started to bang on the walls of the tank. It began to crack as he started hitting harder, it was his anger that was giving him more strength until finally...he shattered the glass and all the water spilled out. Mal started to unbuckle himself. once he was freed he jumped out of the chair, picked up mike and crawled out of the tank. D was getting scarier, he wouldn't stop laughing. While on the floor he started giving mike CPR while D was distracted. He began to cough up some water but he still wasn't breathing. He gave him mouth-to-mouth but it didn't work, he tried again multiple times but he just wouldn't wake up, he started lightly smacking his face like little tiny slaps but...nothing. Mal was crying at this point as he held mike close to him. "YOU BASTARD!" Mal yelled as he looked at D menacingly. D payed no mind to mal, in fact, he hadn't even noticed that they had escaped. Mal started running until D turned his head and moved his hand toward mal's direction which threw him across the room...which seemed to be getting...smaller. It took mal just a few seconds to understand this...until it hit him but...he didn't quite like the thought, it scared him so much, he was holding onto mike so he could shield him. He now knew what D stood for...darkness….

"Haha...that's right mal….it's true, I admit but...my name is merely a title. FOR THE THING THAT SURROUNDS US ALL!" Darkness stated, finishing his thought, mal was just surprised and frozen, speechless _d-does that mean that...all this time….it was HIM who…-. _"Indeed, I've been here...long before YOU were even BORN! I WAS THE ORIGINAL! WHEN YOU WERE BORN, IT WAS ONLY BECAUSE I COULDN'T MAINTAIN A SOLID FORM! HAHAHA SO IN A WAY YOU SORT OF GAVE ME YOUR BODY!" Mal was confused but furious at the same time. Darkness started to walk towards mal as he closed his eyes and tried to cover mike's body to shield him from the tyrants power. D's aura disappeared but you could tell it was still there just in his body. "I could give you mike back...if you want?" "What…?" D snickered as he took his hand out from behind his back and opened up his fist to reveal a small purple orb that looked like compacted, solidified gas in the form of a ball and it was shining brightly as it floated just a couple inches above D's hand. Mal instantly knew what it was, "Mike's soul...want it back?" D asked obviously. Mal looked down at mike who was getting paler and his blank eyes….actually….started to form...tears and they trickled down his face but that didn't change his cold body temperature, his dead heartbeat, and his mouth remained breathless. Both mal and D were confused beyond belief but mal decided to let it go, knowing it must of been a plea for help, he looked back at D who was still holding the purple orb. Mal lunged at D to try and grab the orb but D avoided the tackle by jumping back so high as if he was flying and landed softly. "I don't just give to greedy little betrayers like YOU, I need something in return." Mal was thinking about this, trying to think of a way to give him something of equal value. _If I gave him MY soul then...how would mike escape the darkness, how would the others be able to help if they can't get here...what would happen to bue-" _"'ya don't have to worry about bue, she'll be safe...she was born seperately but from the darkness none the less..just...like...you. Mike didn't create you, I did and thanks to you I now have my own solid body that can travel anywhere I please." Mal seemed to be falling into his own abyss..he was confused at first but...then it all made sense. _He was lying when he said 'he learned from us'. But if HE'S the darkness, that means mike thought of HIM first, that was his hatred in it's purest form. But because of the fact that this part of his mind was never used...and because of his father...his anger started to grow until D was made. He's right, it wasn't just his name or title, what he meant was...he __IS__ the darkness itself. I'm just a personality created from D so mike could actually VENT his hatred. Bue was created to balance this anger out...but she's also the most violent. ALL THE POWERS WE HAVE WERE FROM D AND D ALONE! _"That's riiiiiight...maaaal….you're actually NOT real and you never were. The only reason you grew attached to mike was because you merely needed something to love and care for but even THAT wasn't real." Mal's eyes were almost bulging in shock and were very dilated as his face turned to upset and scared. "No.." D changed his face to an understanding friend as he tried to make him truly get what's going on… "You and I...we're the same...you are me and I am you. I created you, not mike...why do you think we look exactly alike twins almost, no one else in this mind looks anything like you. You're not real...you just have to except that…-" "NO! no no no no no no no NO I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU, I AM REAL! YOU, YOU'RE LYING, YOU'RE LYING...YOU'RE LYING YOU'RE LYING YOU'RE LYING!" "Please mal...try to understand. Mike and his personalities are completely separate from us...the darkness is OUR home; you, bue, and I, we belong here. Not out there. Mike doesn't belong here...but YOU DO!" Mal stepped back slowly in disbelief, but the as the darkness was growing, the more the room seemed to be closing in on them. "Well?...what do you trade?" D asked, his evil grin and crimson eyes returning. Mal stood up, looked down at mike's lifeless body and his own cocky grin and black eyes returned as well. "How about a bet instead...a 'game' if you will.." D looked intrigued and surprised, recognizing exactly what mal was doing. Mal put his hand over his face and immediately flew it down, creating...his war image. D understood and finished his sentence of the rules "- so the challenger gets to choose the game...which I assume you already have...soldier. And the winner gets to walk away with a soul intact. Am I missing anything?" D put his hand over his face and created the same war image as mal. "We may summon any weapon we like and if you were to call on an ally or if someone, even accidently, walks on or interferes with the battle...it's a draw...we both lose." Mal informed him but D had a confused look. "But then...what would I lose…". Mal didn't hesitate for one second to give his proposal. "You give mike his soul back and send him to his side...afterwards...you and I will both take each other's lives...fair?" Mal asked, D snapped his fingers, as well as mal. They created their own bases...but they were both fair as the battle ground set was made the darkness that had previously surrounded them had disappeared, creating more room for the fight. D moved his hand toward mike's direction and made a force field to shield him from battle. The two ran to their bases and were given 30 seconds to imagine their weapons and ammunition.

"GAME START"!


	19. Chapter 19 The darkness,manitoba's pride

~Mike's side~

Manitoba, vito, and svetlana were preparing for battle against The Darkness. Chester was with them...only...he was by the wall sleeping…(I can't find much use for chester..If you guys can find something for him to do, post it in your reviews.) They had their game faces on and were ready to charge until they heard actual gunfire. They all turned to look where the direction of the sound was and saw a huge explosion and a mushroom cloud appeared. It was in the direction of mal's side. This worried manitoba greatly but then snapped out of it as the darkness was coming closer but at a much faster pace. It was vito who finally took command, "CHAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGE!" Vito yelled running head first toward the huge looming cloud of total night and lightning that hovered over the dry, hard, cracked, dusty ground. Manitoba and svetlana had no choice but to follow. Then they all stopped when they heard a cannon being fired and the sound of another explosion as they saw a large dust cloud rise up and flew away with the wind. Manitoba was curious and suspicious at the same time but shook it off as he tried to come up with a real strategy. He looked at his gun and then looked over at vito as he began to shoot at the black menacing mist, dubbed as 'clouds'. After he took his first shot...he got electrocuted by lightning. Svetlana turned to face manitoba with the body language she showed was telling him basically… 'do you have a plan?' Manitoba had a very unsure and nervous look on his face...but then ignored svetlana's worried look as he just shrugged and ran back toward the hall where they came from, svetlana was alarmed and surprised,_ had he lost his mind? _Manitoba started to work his strategy as he first contemplated as to why and how the darkness came after them. He knew that it was coming from the direction of mal's side, it couldn't of been mal and D only thinks about murder so he must of sent it after us. _But what attracts darkness...it doesn't have a mind of it's own and the limit of it's capability of movement can only be that it's been merely pointed at a single area/target. And what's the purpose of darkness or at least D's purpose...to kill and destroy the light. _An idea light bulb popped up above his head. "VITO STOP SHOOTING! SVETLANA COME WITH ME!...YOU TOO VITO, HURRY!" They rushed over immediately. Then they saw manitoba's signature cocky grin, knowing of absolute success, and wondered what kind of trick he had up his sleeve… "Guy's...run back to the hallway by chester…-" The two exchanged confused glances which was then directed at manitoba, the grin still stuck on his face as his eyes grew more serious. The darkness was closing in on them… "WHAT'RE 'YA WAITIN' FOR...MOVE!" They looked at each other for a millisecond before obeying his orders without a second thought. As they stood by chester, they saw manitoba focusing with his gun down and his arms up until...a force field started to come up and surround them, meanwhile manitoba kept his focus until the shield was fully up (he's on the outside of the field). He turned to face the darkness which was coming dangerously closer to him...he focused again and created his own sun, and it was actually floating in his hands. This made the darkness move back until it realized it wanted to destroy the light that seemed to be hurting it yet also attracting itself to it. Manitoba's grin became more sly as he slowly held his arm back that was holding the enormous ball of pure blinding light and threw it as hard as he could, he aimed it at mal's side hoping to give D a taste of his own medicine by bringing his darkness back to get 'im.

~On the outside~

Bue was in the bathroom spraying her hair to keep it up like mike's. "Geez, how does mal do it?It refuses to stay up. GAH! THIS HAIR IS RIDICULOUS! I miss my long locks. " Mike's mom had walked by the bathroom where bue was while she was talking about this. Her face turned to annoyed that she had been fooled. _She is NOT gonna get away with_ _this_…."DINNER TIME"! She yelled by the door as she heard bue fall to the ground with a thump. "YOWCH! THAT HURT!" Bue yelled as she picked herself up off the ground and rubbed her head. "WE'RE HAVING LEFTOVERS…-" "UH… THAT'S FINE..I'M NOT HUNGRY" Bue replied shakily. "Oh no I insist...at least try some of my gumbo." Bue began to panic… "...Uh just gimme a minute and I'll be right out." Bue closed her eyes and tried to communicate with the others by sending a seeing mirror to mike's side and the only one that wasn't busy battling or doing anything really, was...chester…. When she yelled through the mirror, it woke him up. After he calmed down, bue explained the issue and chester understood. He disappeared and then bue took his place. She found herself sitting in front of the hallway with svetlana and vito staring down at her, confused. "Bue vhat are you doink here?" Svetlana asked. "Yeah, shouldn't 'ya be ova' there at mal's side?" Vito wondered. Bue sighed, remembering that she had a seeing mirror rigged to follow D from a long distance. she saw everything that had happened with mal, mike, and him. She looked away as she began talking to herself about the situation. She didn't care too much that it turned out that D created her instead of mal. She then had a disgusted look on her face when she remembered how D kissed her hand. Svet and vito just looked at her with a bizarre look, wondering if she'd gone insane or not.

~On the outside~

Chester walked out of the bathroom rubbing his head as he went toward the kitchen, he smelled some delicious gumbo. His mother wasn't looking while she warmed up the leftover soup on the stove. When she turned around and saw chester...she just looked away frozen in anger and whispered under her breath, "Why that little-" She went over to the table that chester was sitting at holding two bowls already filled and handed one to chester. She had put the hot sauce in his bowl again on purpose. "WHYEYHEAHE! WHA-WHE-HEHY WHY, WHAT'S THE BIG IDE-" "TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON IN THERE FOR REAL, I KNOW THAT THAT 'BU-WHATEVER LIED TO ME! NOW SPILL! OR SO HELP ME…-" His mother was about to finish her sentence of interrogation...at this point she was holding him by his shirt and had dragged him close to her face. Until...his eyes changed and she heard that girl's voice again. "Let's try this again, shall we?" Bue said yanking her hand off of her shirt, she was gripping her hand so tight it almost broke, the look on her face was of complete impatience and annoyance. Then she let go of her mother's arm and her face changed to one of a happy playful child. "I'm bue….MAL'S nice personality." Her mother was absolutely terrified of the little girl but snapped out of it when she heard that she was a personality of...mal. "Wha-what do you mean?" First bue grabbed the hand that didn't have a red mark from her grasp and shook it quickly, similar to their first meeting. She shook her head slightly and the hair that she was working so hard to keep up, fell over exactly right over of her eye as her dark circles returned. She looked back up at her, now, fearless mother, determined to get some answers. For some reason she felt proud of her mother, knowing she could handle the news. There was a pause as bue's eyes turned crimson once more, her mother was slightly stunned at first glance but just got over it, growing frustrated with her long silence. "WELL?!" "...Mike...is dead…". Her mother stepped back a little in shock but bue (still holding her hand.) gripped her arm and twisted it but only to get her to focus, showing that there was more to tell. "For now-" "what are you talking about...is my son alive..or-". Bue just looked bored now as she looked away and blew her hair flap up, to reveal her other eye. The woman bent down to a face-to-face level and her face was nothing but curious and serious. Bue stopped twisting while her mother was holding in the pain and bue spoke again. "The darkness has stolen mike's soul and mal's fightin' to get it back an' return it to mike's body. Everyone just calls him D for short...'ya know...'cause my name's short for Bueno, it's like that. Anyhoodles, the others are fighting...well...how do I put this...mike's hatred. It was a big build up from all his sufferin'. With his pop an' all. Now mike's whole entire mind has been completely split; Mal's side an' Mike's side….that didn't fair too well. So, in other words: Everyone on mike's side is fighting his hatred as in his pure anger, while on mal's side, there's a fight goin' on over who get's the soul." (I had totally forgotten bue's accent, if you hadn't noticed...it was actually gone for a while and bue talked like a normal person. for all the nitpicks out there that actually noticed this...amen to you brother, hope you're pleased.) Her mother's face, surprisingly didn't change as if to say: "That all?" Bue was shocked at her response,_ I guess this isn't much news for her after all she's been through...hmm..she sure does worry a lot though. Then again..I'VE never had a child…. She's a good mother, mike's lucky. I was created from evil. I'm jealous hehe. _She rubbed the back of her neck. Then she thought of something and grabbed her by her bathrobe and ran her over to the bathroom mirror. It was a very large mirror which is why bue thought it was perfect. She was hopeful that THIS would make her understand because clearly...even despite the evidence..she doesn't believe her. But she has to and now she'll have some real proof...question is..._is it possible for me on the outside...to control real outside mirrors...it's worth a shot. Not too sure, just goin' on a guess an' hope._


	20. Chapter 20 mental feud, bue

~Mal's side~

D had summoned a cannon and was firing rapidly. Mal, every now and then would be able to do some damage with his grenades. But then D would fix it with another one of his powers and even create temporary force fields. D was using fowl play, mal tried the same but when mal had taken damage he was too busy to make a force field so while he used his powers to fix his own base, D would strike so mal was completely vulnerable. "I'M NOT CHEATING, I'M MERELY USING THE LOOPHOLES IN YOUR RULES TO MY ADVANTAGE!" D yelled over another shot. That gave mal an idea. I never said we couldn't create multiple weapons on the spot during battle, "TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME D!"(literally AND metaphorically haha). Mal focused and his own cannon appeared only it looked more futuristic with all sorts of different side launchers for different types of ammo. One was paintballs, another were his grenades, some were even acid shooters that could melt whatever it's target was. Either way it was nothing but an absolute death machine and mal was proud. He loaded his new weapon with incredible speed and was about to pull the triggers until he saw D create what seemed to be an old, worn out, withered trampoline that was facing him and had a big red dot in the middle like the one's you'd see in an old 50's carnival. Mal laughed at it assuming that that was going to be his protection...but still...knowing D, there must be some catch. So mal aimed at D instead of the tramp. When D saw the weapon being pointed at him, he looked shocked and scared almost. Mal smirked and fired without a second thought. D smirked as well the minute he fired, confusing him until he realized too late…. D raised his hand and another shield appeared, when his projectiles hit it, they immediately bounced off and went off in all directions...including his base. It was the worst of his ammunition that hit him head on; The exploding cannonballs. Mal leaped away from his former base as it got hit, he was in mid-air when the blast shot him even farther away from where he started and he landed with a hard dusty impact that knocked the wind out of him. Their imaginary battlefield now looked like a total wasteland. Mal slowly got up until he heard footsteps and he was yanked back up to his feet by his hair, he turned around and punched D in the stomach. He didn't even flinch, mal was getting angry and his black aura started to appear and his face started to turn evil...D smiled but the silence between the two remained. D snapped his fingers again and their previous scenery had returned. He stepped back and let go of mal's hair but ruffled it first like an encouraging father which angered him more. D stepped back a little more until he was in the exact center of the battlefield. Mal was confused but still frustrated then D removed his other hand from behind his back and showed mike's soul once again. Mal tried to lunge at D for the threats of harming mike's soul. He moved his hand slightly upward, throwing mal to the ground. D walked up to him and surprisingly helped him up, he then showed mal mike's soul which seemed to be glowing even brighter as D closed his eyes tightly and a sort of glass orb appeared around it. Mal had no true expression on his face, but you could tell he was amazed at what D had done as his eyes widened. Both of their faces and some of their bodies were almost completely enveloped by the purple light the soul was emitting. Mal looked as though he was in a trance but then noticed D's hand was moving back until his hand was no longer holding the ball up. Neither of their hands were underneath it so it was just…. Floating, mal and D were just in utter and total silence. Mal was thinking about this as an opportunity to steal mike's soul back. _MAL, DON'T DO IT! _Mal looked up and all around but still made no sound. He snapped his fingers once more and the scenery had turned back into the dark, red-tiled, one light source room. Mal was just downright confused, "so…-". Just then the glass orb holding mike's soul started to come down slowly. _SHUT UP MAL! DON'T LOSE FOCUS! _Mal looked around but then turned back to keep his eye on the orb. Just then a large mirror came out of the darkness, from the direction of mike's side, and into the small light. It was bue and his mother standing next to each other. Mal looked over for a quick second before looking back at the orb. His mother saw bue's real reflection and gasped. "You really do look like a girl!" Bue had an annoyed look on her face and put her finger to her mouth signalling her to shut up. She whispered in her ear what they were really doing and what the purple glowing ball was, his mother gasped and cupped her hands over her mouth trying not to show her fear. Then she saw who the two boys were that were staring at the orb, mal but she wasn't all that shocked by this but then the other boy whose face he'd kept hidden turned to face her and she held her breath as if, afraid to breath when she saw his evil face and his deadly crimson eyes. _Is that…? _She looked down at bue's real reflection to notice her nodding telling her yes. Bue was listening in on all of their thoughts and was personally horrified at D's thoughts and the images that were going through his head aside from his own concentration, that he kept on the floating orb, this made her shudder. Her mother was only worried for mike but when she looked down again and saw bue's face getting angry, she tried to hold her but then decided not to, bue was talking to D and she was most CERTAINLY not happy about this conversation. _I SWEAR, 'YA LAY ONE FINGER ON THAT SOUL AN' I'LL MAKE 'YA PAY...D!_

_My my, what anger you possess...that's why you're my favorite._

Bue had another disgusted look on her face as she turned away, her mother was curious as to why bue's expressions kept on changing. THIS TIME, bue was letting her in on the conversation (more like...in vague details but whateva') by whispering in her ear including the rules of the game that the two were playing. The Quiet Game (D's edition):

There's an object that two people together must focus on as it is in the air.

You must keep it from falling, once it hits the ground...it breaks.

You cannot under ANY circumstances talk, otherwise, even if you maintain your concentration…, if you were to speak...the object will fall at a certain pace...depending on the amount of words used.

Neither of the two players may hold the ball as it floats above the ground.

No third parties are allowed to enter the game once it has started.

The purpose of the game is to keep the item above ground.

Only one player can win.

One player is trying to focus on the object staying up, while the other player is trying to make it fall, whoever has more wits and will power shall triumph.

Bue's eyes changed into her normal brown color but were still very serious. Her mother noticed this and was about to say something until, without removing her sight off of their feud, bue cupped her hand over her mouth with such impeccable speed that you couldn't even see her arm rise before her hand had managed to make her mom shut up before she even took a breath to speak. She looked up at the, now, silent woman who was now just worried. She snarled at her for a quick moment before averting her eyes back to the 'Mental Battle' without a second thought or waiting a small second to see the reaction she had. D's eyes were no longer crimson, but black as he stared at the orb while his smirk remained glued to his face while he continued his conversation with bue.

_You DO know that I can always tell what you're about to do, but just remember...if you were to jump through that mirror, which I know you can seeing as you were able to even do this much with your power...IT'S REALLY QUITE IMPRESSIVE!_

_I merely have motivation...I'll admit to that. But you're gettin' off topic….an' I know what you're doin'...I WON'T FALL FOR IT!_

_Bue, bue, please...you know me better than that and believe me...your anger and frustration, blinding you from common sense makes for astounding entertainment. HAHAHAHAHA!_

Bue was starting to grow more and more furious as she began to growl. Then turned her attention towards mal's mind. She had a very concerned look on her face as she uncupped her mother's mouth who didn't care much for such a scene of nothing happening, though still worried for her child, decided to see this out. She then looked down to see bue biting her fingernails while she sweat and seemed to be afraid by the expression on her face. Her mother turned to face the mirror once more to reveal the darkness coming toward mal. Then bue looked angry and saw her mouth moving oddly. At first she assumed it was because of the scary black cloud coming towards them but that would only explain her feared look, not her angry one. Bue...reluctantly, focused again as she tried to make the clouds go away, knowing that mal's concentration wouldn't be enough. It was when she saw mal's eyes that she got worried. With that, she dragged her mother out of the bathroom with immense speed and slammed the door behind them as hard as she could, some hinges became loose and you could feel a tiny earthquake which shook their house for a quick second. Her mother was very frightened at how powerful she was, bue grabbed the collar of her bathrobe and pulled her down fast as her eyes turned deadly serious. "What's going on, what happened?" Bue slapped her, leaving a small mark. "'YA DON'T HAVE TO WHISPER ANYMORE, DUMBASS...WE'RE OUT OF THE ROOM...now listen carefully-". Bue paused, her mother slapped her harder. "WELL?!...TELL ME ALREADY...I'M SICK AND TIRED OF BEING IN THE DARK!" Bue's face showed no expression as she turned back from the slap to the face to see the woman with pure anger in her eyes. "Get the frying pan." Bue let go of her bathrobe and ran toward the kitchen with her mom close behind. She understood what bue was asking of her but just couldn't go through with it. "What're 'ya waitin' for….HIT ME!" She pointed at her head and stomped her foot like a spoiled kid. "I-I can't….no matter how much you deserve it though…." Bue was furious but then noticed that she couldn't move her legs and began to stagger until she fell to the ground and it was like her whole body started to go numb as she was being controlled like a puppet and stood up. Her mother was concerned for bue, "bue?...what's going on?" Bue closed her eyes tightly. "I-I-It's D-D, he's try-tryin' to keep me awake s-so I-I w-w-won't i-interfere…. Th-there's nothin' I-I-I c-can...d-do…. I-If y-you hi-hit me with th-the p-p-pan th-then maybe I-I could DO s-something to help th-the others. Th-they need my he-help, if y-you don't do somethin' fast….h-he's g-gonna g-get 'ya. HURRY I DON'T WANT SO'M TO HAPPEN TO 'YA...e-especially if I-I have a say i-in the m-matter!" She coughed up some blood and fell to her knees, bue looked up with sad eyes and looked down. "Once I-I'm out, go to the b-bathroom mirror...I-I c-can keep it up while I'm in there…-" Bue's look turned to annoyed and furious. "-DO IT!...NOW!" Her mom was in shock but reluctantly took her word for it and smacked her head with the frying pan. Her eyes went blank as everything seemed as though it was all in slow motion and with that, bue fell to the ground with her face frozen, her eyes blank, and her whole body was completely still and lifeless. She dropped the frying pan and ran over to her child and went to feel his pulse, it was still there, she sighed in relief and picked up her son to take him to his room and set him down on the covers and tucked him in. Then ran to the bathroom, as instructed by bue.

With her back to her and saw the battle that mike's personalities were having with the darkness.

She saw bue as well only this time in her war uniform; camo skirt(to the knees...which were bare), combat knee high tightly laced boots, old dirty light brown oversized longsleeve unzipped jacket, her WW2 hat on with the poker cards along the lining and unbuckled, and of course...her LONG spiked hair going down to her 'tush'. She was climbing up a small and wet muddy hill that led to the front of the hallway, where she found the others, who weren't at all surprised to see her there in her war outfit. They had the same look only they had dark green jackets and….were wearing pants. The mirror had come up along with her and she turned to show her face which had the hair flap covering her left eye once more and the two black paint marks were under them as she had a very serious look on her face and summoned her weapon. She merely closed her eyes lifted both her hands up as if to hold something and a rifle appeared with exploding bullets. Her mom was in awe, looking at, not only the true bue but...the SOLDIER BUE! and actually felt proud. The sky was cloudy and stormy as it began to rain, making the muddy trench even MORE slippery. The mirror turned to show what the others were seeing and it was this huge sandstorm, it looked like, only jet black with some purple-ish haze in an attempt to balance it out and it sounded like roaring thunder and lightning was shooting out of it. She was wondering why nobody was doing anything about this until bue read her thoughts. "It's because manitoba engulfed us with a force field for protection, he's out there fightin' the darkness alone...like an idiot…...the australian sexist idiot that he is." Bue looked away with her serious battle pose, holding her rifle like an olde-timey soldier line up though she wasn't saluting and put on a belt that was lopsided and attached her exploding bullets in a bag to it. Her mom just looked amazed at this, with what she was seeing her jaw had dropped, she chose to let it remain open. Then bue moved the mirror to face the force field and see what they were seeing as she saw manitoba running away from the darkness but also throwing, what appeared to be, little balls of light. When he threw them, the darkness would just eat it like it was just the small topping of an appetizer. Each time it ate a light it seemed to get louder and bigger, worrying their mother. "BUE! VITO! SVETLANA, CAN'T ANY OF YOU DO SOMETHING?!" She yelled, still watching over manitoba until she turned and saw bue holding a missile, preparing to throw it….. The woman closed her eyes and covered her ears as she quickly heard a very loud explosion. The barrier was beginning to fade as the darkness started to get faster until, finally, the barrier vanished. Bue started to run down the slippery slope and got mud all over her when she landed in a big puddle, she turned and lifted her arm up to wave in order to signal the others to come down, they did so and so did the mirror. Chester woke up after he had heard the missile strike, he got up slowly then when he saw the others fighting, he realized that...everything that's going on is just an illusion. _I bet bue and vito would just say, "well it's realistic enough to fight it!" A couple of ninny's, those two are, manny would probably say the same thing. Oy...sometimes I wonder if I'M the only one with a brain around here. They're just thinkin' of violence...I guess that's the only thing going through a youngsters mind these days. _"WELL BACK IN MY DAY, WE SOLVED IMAGINARY PROBLEMS WITH OUR IMAGINATION, 'YA NINNY'S!" Chester yelled over the darkness, the others couldn't hear him over the raging thunder...but bue heard his thoughts. An idea struck her head, "CHESTER COME OVER HERE! HURRY" Svetlana and vito heard this and tried to cup her mouth shut in concern for chester and his feeble old man body. Bue grabbed both of their hands from behind and flipped them over with an angry look on her face, she was starting to get more of a grip on her anger issues so her eyes didn't turn black...but she still wouldn't hesitate to throw the two into the air until they twinkled like stars and disappeared. They knew this all too well and got up to witness bue raise her arm and aimed it at chester which created a slide for him to come down on. She used her other arm to pull him onto it and gravity would do the rest. As the darkness kept coming forward, wind started to pick up throwing bue's hair wildly around into everybody's faces. Before chester could fall on his face she picked him up with ease and told him that she heard his thoughts. He lifted her helmet and ruffled her hair, "I'm glad that at least SOMEONE listens!" Bue had an annoyed look but then shook it off when she saw chester's warm smile, she got embarrassed and yanked her helmet down and this time buckled the straps. "NOW THEN, I GOT A PLAN!" Bue yelled over the storm also making sure their mother could hear with the mirror close by in order to see inside the mind, bue winked and her mother smiled. She spun around slightly and stopped when she was directly in front of the hallway, leading to their rooms and surrounded by the trench, bue lifted her arm up and then her hand shot up after it and raised her own barrier...it was a different color (now green, not dark pink.) and looked 'staticky' as what looked like, electric currents surrounding it with a brilliant light emitting from the currents. Manitoba, who was running around the side of the huge black 'sandstorm' turned around to face an enormous light show which quickly died down as bue realized the same as manitoba that the darkness was out to destroy light. Vito, svetlana, chester, and manitoba were all shocked at how powerful bue was, they could tell that THIS barrier could NEVER break, it was much too powerful, only bue could undo her own spell. She looked up at her forcefield with a face of honor and a sly grin spread across her face. Everyone was shaking at this, except chester. Manitoba was the first to snap out of it, "BUE...WHAT'S YOUR FULL PLAN?! I KNOW THAT THAT CAN'T BE IT!" Bue was in silence as she pushed manitoba away and got on the ground, the others were curious as to what she was doing. _GAH! DAMMIT ALL...THE DARKNESS IS 'BOVE THE GROUND AND ROLLIN' TO US...BUT IT'S NOT HIGH 'NOUGH FOR US TO SIMPLY DUCK UNDER IT WHILE WE'RE COMPLETELY DEFENSELESS! _Bue got up and tightened her fists with a furious facial expression, when manitoba and svetlana noticed this, they could tell that bue was running out of ideas but were also feeling stupid for not being able to come up with any themselves. Just then bue's expression changed to glowingly happy then turned to serious, "EVERYONE, GET BEHIND ME!" The darkness was speeding at this point and was just seconds away from killing them with one touch. Then the jet black mist hit them with huge impact and immense speed...they had been completely engulfed.


	21. Chapter 21 the darkness is a phony

Mike's body was wearing down, his face grew paler, he was becoming skinnier, and his face, his eyes, his hair, his cheeks...were all starting to wither. He was no longer able to shed tears, all his spiritual energy had vanished. If mal doesn't do something fast mike's body will fade into nothing. "I'm...surprised." D said in a soft tone as the ball lowered closer to the ground. _I can't believe this didn't cross my mind, if D really wanted to make this soul fall and break, he would be talking at normal volume. I can't...I just CAN'T AND I WON'T! _Mal closed his eyes...but not tightly…,calmly, he had gently shut his eyes as he took a deep breath then they SHOT OPEN making D lose focus for a millisecond. But still even during that millisecond it seemed like time had slowed down for mal as he concentrated more than ever as the ball shot upward about 10ft almost. Mal's facial expression didn't change at all, D was beginning to get lazy as he summoned chairs, neither of the two players lost their focus one bit nor their calm attitudes but, none the less, time was running out and mal was getting worried. When D focused again the orb flew down at a great speed until it was exactly at an eye-to-eye level for the both of them. Mal crossed his legs as D crossed his arms and you could just feel the thick intensity of the silent room. D yawned and started his own conversation with mal.

'_Ya know...'ya can't keep this up much longer...I can see the bags. _D stated with confidence.

_I can as well...but, yes...it's true I can't go on forever...you have power and I have power. _Mal told him with a sigh.

_Mine is…. "darker" I suppose. But I can see you're wearing down, your face just doesn't show it. It takes a special bond to tell one's energy evaporating...it takes a personality to know a personality. _D replied calmly. Mal's face had turned shocked as he thought of his mother again:

"What...did you...tell...him?!" "Just that I won't support his case of denial in the court,...the poor sap was begging me. HA! as if! he was clearly asking the wrong person." "personality...personality, you mean…".…, "NO, NO...I'M NOT...I'M REAL...I'M REAL DAMMIT!"

_But you're NOT real, just accept it. You're MY personality NOT his! YOU BELONG TO ME! NOT __HIM__...ME! _D, without removing his focus on the orb pointed at mike. Then the room was in silence again as mal looked down. D thought that when mal brought his head back up to look at orb, he'd see him crying out of frustration and assumed that this would bring out his anger and 'dark' aura. Instead...when mal looked up….his face continued to have no expression, in fact...his eyes were completely normal...not crimson not black not even blank but….his OWN color...his eyes had turned blue as a smile crept up on mal's face. D assumed it was because he was thinking of a new strategy of torture for IF he caught him. Mal raised his hand slightly and created a forcefield around the orb so now he could talk freely. D remained silent in curiosity for what he was doing.

"I get it now." Mal said as his expression changed back to emotionless.

"Get what?"

"Why you're so dark and evil. It's because you're upset and frustrated." Mal told him bluntly, making D get out of his chair and stepped back nervously, mal stood up as well.

"TH-THAT'S NOT…-YOU'RE WRONG!"

"It's because mike never used you. It was never the anger he had toward his father. No matter how much he abused him...he still loved him anyway. All the bullies did was make him sad..but he never felt anger toward any of them. Sure...everybody has anger in them but you, you're different. The reason that all three of us were created was solely because of his fear and we're just for coping...our mere existence is for mike to be able to handle his situations. The others are simply to help mike on the OUTSIDE…-"

"-Sh-shut up…"

"And YOU were created first but were banished to the far corners of his mind….so if mike couldn't see you….he couldn't use you. So you grew frustrated and angry because no one ever kept you company…" Mal explained in a sad and pitying tone as he stood up out of his chair and looked down in depression, angering D more.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Mal looked up, determined to finish.

"I was created out of mike's fear...and bue was created out of your anger and frustration. SHE kept you company and for a while you remained calm and progressively grew attached to her..just as I did to mike."

~Meanwhile~

It's revealed that bue's plan had worked. She had created a massive force field as the darkness shot passed them. But bue was starting to lose her stand as she tried to dig her feet into the ground to hold back the enormous blast but the shield started to fade until svetlana held her by her back and pushed her forward so she wouldn't fall. Vito held her hand and the shield became more powerful, manitoba did the same and the barrier was now strong enough for them to push forward. Bue looked behind her to see the others..._no….her friends…._

She smiled and tears of joy ran down her face and they sparkled as they fell..possibly because of the brightness of the shield reflecting back on her. *Mal begins to narrate over*

_I was just as lonely as you and so I tried to help mike anyway I could..but that ended up hurting him more...I felt endlessly guilty so I tried to cut off the other people mike had a relationship to and hurt THEM as well...I was jealous. Until I found friends...friends who understood me and why I was so frustrated, I felt guilty for that too...feeling like a burden. :_

"You...you did it didn't you!" "You tell mike or anyone else and you're DEAD! ...MANNY!" "...Mal…?" "MIKE IS MINE, NOBODY IS GONNA TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME! NOT YOU, NOT ZOEY...NOT ANYBODY!" "Mal, I understa-" "NO YOU DON'T!"

_But, but….they STILL forgave me. And that made me happy at least._

~Mal and D's conversation~

"no...no...NO! YOU LIE!" Mal walked up to him slowly...D didn't move an inch with a scared look on his face...and mal hugged him.

"It's okay…" D pushed him away...but the expression on his face had changed...to sad… "HOW DO I KNOW YOU GUYS WON'T LEAVE ME EITHER?!" D ran over to mike's soul, picked it up and was about to throw it to the ground and break it. He had tears running down his face. Mal walked up and grabbed his hand..but not tightly, he didn't twist it either...he just held it and gave him a very serious look. D reluctantly turned his head to face him.

"D...why, why are you doing this to us?"

"If I got rid of mike then…-"

"-all I'd have left is you." Mal finished his sentence. D looked guilty and lowered his arms...he walked over to mike and knelt down to give him his soul back. But then turned around to look at mal…, "I'm not just gonna give it without something in return." D looked evil again and he started to smirk, mal sighed and knew exactly what he wanted. "Fine...I'll gladly give you MY soul if you give back mike's. Fair?" Mal questioned, D smiled and nodded. _WAIT! _Both mal and D turned to face where they had heard the voice. A mirror appeared from the direction of mike's side. Mal's face had turned to concerned and confused as he saw one of the most stressing sights he had seen and always wished not to see. "Mom?" D was surprised at first for a little while but got over it and his expression turned blank, mal's look remained concerned for what D could do through the mirror. "Yes mal...it's me, you saw me during your 'game' didn't you?" Mal shook his head, "I saw you for a split second before bringing my focus back onto mike's soul...I thought it might of just been the illusion of hopefulness…. Guess not…" Mal looked down and started to shake, D was shocked at this as he began to wonder what was going on precisely. "I don't want you to get hurt." His mother was a little surprised but then remembered what bue had told her before she got hit with the frying pan: if y-you don't do somethin' fast-he's-gonna-get 'ya. HURRY I DON'T WANT SO'M TO HAPPEN TO 'YA...e-especially if I-I have a say i-in the m-matter!" This thought made her smile a little then mal started to walk up to her slowly...still in shock at what he was seeing. _Is that really her? or is this another illusion by D? _Meanwhile, D was beginning to grow impatient with mal, afraid that he'd go back on his deal. He was still holding the, now, fading soul. Mal was right in front of the mirror and asked wether she thought of him as her son too. "Yes, now I do. When bue told me you became a "goodguy", I was in disbelief. Until...I saw you fighting so hard for mike's soul and decided to believe bue...though I don't approve of the way she gets by a sentence without a punch." Mal looked down….but D snickered. "But I'M the one who stabbed the old bastard in the chest, that YOU call your husband…." "EX-husband." "He signed the papers of divorce." "AND the custody papers, reluctantly though." This news made mal smile happily, he stepped forward once more and began to reach up to touch the mirror, to at least feel a bit closer to his mother but then...He fell to the ground. His mother gasped as she looked down at a fallen body….in a small pool of blood and saw….the knife in his back. D hadn't moved a muscle until he saw mike's mother and he smirked then walked up to a pale, lifeless mike. "DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" D ignored her as he knelt down to give mike's soul back. About a full minute after, mike's eyes returned to brown and they blinked frantically, he coughed a lot trying to get some air, his body temp progressively got warmer, and he could feel his heartbeat again. He rubbed his head because of a serious headache but got over it as he finally stood up and saw his mother crying with her mouth cupped by her hands. "MOM!" "MIKE!" He began to run over to her until, he just stopped dead in his tracks and looked around in curiousity. When his mother looked behind him and saw D walking calmly behind him with a smirk and his hands behind his back, but not long after mike stopped, he looked down and saw mal with a knife in his back. When mike ran to him D had stopped walking and was standing directly in front of the mirror by 10 feet away and was staring at the frightened woman with a devilish smile and his eyes glowed crimson once more. It seemed as though his hair was beginning to float and flew up higher until it looked like a some sort of strong force was blowing heavy wind at him from below his feet. He began to glow red all over his body then he pulled out a bow and arrow, aimed it at the mirror as the poor woman had no choice but to watch as D shot it. However, it also broke the actual mirror, in the outside world, it shattered completely and his mother suffered severe cuts all over herself. She ran to go check up on her son's body, not caring for all the cuts on her feet and checked his pulse and forehead. His temperature was normal and so was his pulse, she pulled up a chair next to her son's bed and held his hand while she just prayed for his safety and that he'll come back to her soon.

~Mike's side of the brain~

Bue's shield was fading despite the extra boost from her newly found friends. Then, all of a sudden, everyone blinked for a millisecond and then *POOF* the darkness was gone. Everyone looked around anxiously, worried that it's random disappearence was another illusion until bue broke the silence. "What jus' happened?" "Imagination." Chester replied bluntly, everyone turned to face him. "HAH?!" Everyone said in sync, except bue. " Whaddaya' mean ol' man? What ya' talkin' 'bout?" "I told ya' all before! remember...if all this was created from our imagination and D's illusion's….who says we can't imagine them away?" Vito, svetlana, and manitoba all let their heads fall on their shoulder's in confusion, and once again, except bue. She understood instantly….and was NOT happy about it. "We coulda' jus' gotten rid of it...with our F****** MINDS, YA' M************ D*** AND YA' NEVA' TOLD US?!" Chester groaned at the impatience he was getting, this time bue just couldn't control it anymore. "I DID tell you guys, I thought you said that you could hear my-" "SOMEBODY HOLD ME BACK!" Manitoba and vito tackled her and then noticed her eyes turning black and got worried. Bue began to struggle and was starting to squeeze out of their grasp, svetlana pounced on all of them in hopes of stopping bue with the immense weight of all three of them at once. Then it seemed as though bue got struck with something then she screamed when she sensed the energy coming from mal's side. Everybody got off her immediately and she got up faster than the rest of them could fall as she looked around frantically then saw a huge massive ball of darkness, she knew it had been contained but was still worried. _BUE! BUE! I NEED YOUR HELP! NOW! _Bue looked back at everyone and manitoba asked what's wrong, bue had an upset look on her face but shook it off as she answered. "It's D…. He's calling me...I gotta go." "WHAT?! BUE? WAIT!" But it was too late, bue had already disappeared and ran head first into the darkness, leading to the other side. When the others tried to follow her, when they got to the darkness and attempted to ram into it like she did, instead they bounced off. "I guess only personalities born from mal's side can only return there themselves." Manitoba sighed and everyone just looked down in defeat. Just then, chester whacked manitoba...very hard….with his cane, making him fall back onto the ground only, face first. "OW! what was that for chester?!" "It's 'cause you dumbells haven't realized that we need to get back into the hallway...if we wanna make a ploy that is!" "Aye yo...what's a 'ploy'"? Vito asked, chester hit him with his cane as well, getting frustrated. "It's a strategy! Why, back in MY day, we understood our elders 'big words' that you peabrains can't figure out!" Everyone gave chester a nasty glare, he rolled his eyes and told them how to fix the forcefield since bue's gone. They trudged on while rubbing their heads in pain.


	22. Chapter 22 D, soul stealer

~Mal's side~

*Tap tap tap tap tap tap*,D was able to clearly hear the sound of bue's clicking from the heel of her flats and turned to face her for when she'd appea- *WAM* Bue had done a run jump and kick move, it was successful seeing as the fact that D now had a big red mark on his face in the shape of bue's shoe. He plummeted to the ground with a big impact. Knocking him for a daze, bue got on her knees beside mike and he looked at her sadly. Bue looked back but didn't have the same expression, when she saw mal…. At first she had just a blank and calm look as her body language was showing that she didn't care….then her face became angry. Her teeth sharpened, her eyes turned black, the dark under-eye circles returned, and so did her black aura. D got up and when he saw bue's true nature coming back to the surface, he smiled with delight and evil. Mike was frightened by bue's new expression while bue began to shake….almost like a vibration that might've been an illusion coming from her wavy aura that completely surrounded her. When she heard D starting to walk up to her, she quickly YANKED the knife out from mal's back making blood splatter upon her face and she turned around with just a split second for D to react, she threw the knife at D and it hit his left shoulder. Mike was absolutely, wondering now if bue was good or evil. D began to get up but bue didn't notice as she began to focus once more and mal progressively started to heal. A light was shining through from where bue was clearing the wound and it began to close, it was the first time she had tried this so the process was very slow despite the size of the small wound seeing as it was a dagger and not a huge kitchen knife. _You're working awfully hard to save him, bue. You should quit worrying, he'll be fine, just relax and calm down… _D told her telepathically, he had walked up and put his hands on her shoulders. Bue began to sweat, she almost looked behind her but then looked back at the bleeding body that she was tending to. She remained focused on mal and her anger began to cool, just then she felt a drop of something on her head, this time she couldn't resist turning to face what was behind her. D still had yet to take out the dagger from his shoulder and so the blood was dripping onto bue's head, she felt chills with every drop and this made D smile sadistically. To make it worse, he pulled the dagger out of his shoulder slowly making even more blood spill onto bue, once it was fully taken out it was pouring. Her face was now dripping with blood and her hair was soaked with some on her upper arms as well. "BUE!" Mike yelled, D purposely dropped the knife and let it fall directly in front of mike as he was moving to bue. The bloody knife made him completely freeze as another painful memory came back to him. When mal stabbed his father, while mike was sleeping with his personalities by his side, his dream was of him staring at the whole scene from the outside of his body near his mother as she screamed. Then when mal turned to face her….his face had multiple blood splatters and his father was in a pool of blood. He hadn't remembered the dream, _mal must've gotten rid of it so that I would trust him….as a friend. _Mike snapped out of it and saw that mal's wound had been closed and he was waking up. "M-mike?...bue?" He hadn't looked at bue yet and went to hug mike. Mike didn't hug him back, but mal didn't notice. Then he let go and saw bue...drenched in blood and D standing behind her with a huge bleeding gash from his shoulder, and for some reason bue wasn't doing anything about it. Mal grabbed her and pulled her away from D, she was out cold and drenched in blood. Mal closed his eyes and gause began to wrap around D's wound, he also made the knife disappear and sent bue off to mike's side with teleportation. Mike and mal got up to their feet to look D at a face-to-face level, though D was shocked and curious as to why mal would help his wound. "Simply because I care about the people around me, you and I both know that bue's violent but she'd never draw blood. I bet she got a sort of 'phobia' for it." Mal finished his thought aloud. D was growing more angry then, out of nowhere…*POW* Now there were two footprints on D's broken face. "THE HELL YOU'RE FIGHTIN' HIM WITHOUT ME!" "YEAH MATES, ME TOO!" Mike was ecstatic to see a real familiar face; Manitoba and a soaking wet, barefoot bue. "I only took a quick bath, took off ma' loud, clickin' shoes and teleported here an' brought manny with me." Bue's hair was sticking to her back and dripping with water and a little shampoo, she had changed her clothes and was holding manitoba by his collar...apparently, in order to bring an outsider to the other mind both have to remain in contact. She put a rubber band in her mouth and started to pull back her hair, getting annoyed with the wet back. Everyone was just staring at how different bue looked with her hair up, manitoba touched her head and a big, silk, red bow appeared. She knew something was in her hair but didn't know what as everybody started to laugh, she punched manitoba in the face which launched him into the sky as he twinkled then disappeared, she snapped her fingers and manitoba plummeted to the ground with a huge crash. Then mal laughed harder, mike had his hand over his mouth to try and control it. Then D got up and tried to ram bue and manitoba for kicking him, all of a sudden, he took a third blow to the head (the side this time), a huge metal shield(edge hitting his head, not the face of it.). It was going so fast that it nearly pierced the skull. D was barely standing until bue turned to see a woozy looking D, she saw the shield and decided to deliver the final blow. Everyone turned to face bue as she lifted her leg back, the same way it looks when she's about to use 'full force' and kicked his nuts as hard as she could, launching him into the sky as well. She looked over at everybody else, shaking with fear. Then they all saw D falling back to the ground until mike stepped up, closed his eyes and imagined…..mal's "Multi-ammo Cannon". It was already loaded and he began to fire viciously. D fell to the ground, charred then bue ordered the attack. They all pounced on him and began the fight, it looked like they were rolling around in a cliche, cartoon, fighting grey, dust cloud. D began to fade, as did the darkness to show a red tiled floor, light blue walls, a white ceiling, but there was no 'bedroom stuff'. No doors for storage of any of these items so it was just an empty soul less room, _No wonder D went crazy, __I__ would if I had to even spend just a day in here, let alone a couple years. _Bue had the same thought and they both had looks of pity on their faces. "This is...D's room?" Mike asked breaking the silence. Just then, the room split in half as though a line had sliced it perfectly only, it didn't break. On the right where mal was standing, was the kitchen from mike's house and it showed the police lifting his father's body off the ground and on to the carrier and their steps were bloody since they hit the puddle. His mother stayed behind and fell to her knees while her legs were wobbling before they left. Once the door closed and she couldn't hear the sirens anymore, she let her head fall down, facing the bloody floor and started to sob. Mal didn't blink for a moment as his memories were on replay, his expression remained blank while manitoba tried to cover his eyes but mike kept his hand down with all his strength and watched with mal. Bue wasn't looking as her memories played...starting from after she encountered D with mal and all the things she did while under D's spells. She held herself as shivers went down her spine, feeling stupid for having such weak will power. Just then, their memories shattered like a glass being struck and was replaced with darkness, they all were engulfed in mere seconds. It was like there were no floors or walls, like they were floating on nothing, they all were scared but were still able to see each other clearly. This wasn't new to mal and bue but for some reason they felt more scared than mike and manitoba combined as they started to shake. "H-he's n-n-not d-dead y-y-yet…" mal and bue said in sync but in a soft tone. When manitoba turned to face the two he saw that their eyes were black and grabbed mike by his shoulder and dragged him back behind him for safety. They didn't do anything except shake in fear, "mal? bue?" Then a voice came crashing in on the frightened duo. _Why are you so scared...after all...this IS your home, bue, mal. _The booming voice in their heads told them, they both fell to their knees and covered their ears, worrying manitoba who was almost nauseous with fear. _Mike, manitoba, I'm letting you go...you don't belong here._

_NEITHER DO THEY!...Their hearts are good… _Mike told the darkness aloud as he pointed at bue and mal who were now in a fetal position and shaking. Then manitoba tapped mike on the back and showed him a light, after it died down it revealed a hallway. Both of them knew where it went and paused. The light from the hallway turned off but you could still see it.

_Their hearts are good… _Mike repeated.

_You don't believe me do you. _The voice said, then mike turned to look at mal and bue as they slowly got up. They were at their knees when they all of a sudden got hit with something that made their chest pop out as though something struck their backs and it only pulled their backs forward, like when you're about to land face first and something or someone pushed you. (It's rather difficult to describe. like; when you've been pushed from behind and your chest comes forward in a way. I apologize if it's confusing.) Then an object appeared from the center of their chests, a sort of glowing orb. Mike knew what it was even though he was knocked out before he could see it clearly. It was bue's and mal's souls, mal's was dark blue and bue's was yellow. They both collapsed to the ground and their eyes turned blank, after mike came out of shock...he got a closer look. There seemed to be a small hazy black orb in the center of the souls and it had some streaks shooting out from it, almost like black lightning that wouldn't go any farther than the souls surface, it was like there was a visible virus inside of them.

_You see? they're tainted….with darkness. It's a PART of them. Those aren't JUST souls...it's their 'core', the very embodiment of their being is in that orb. THAT'S why they're partly black, it's the darkness inside them….no matter how much they reject it, they can't fight it...and it won't go away. _Mike was looking around in a panic to find where the voice was coming from. Then he felt two hands on his shoulders that were starting to make it's way to his neck, manitoba snapped out of his trance and noticed a frozen mike with hands coming toward his throat and grabbed one of the hands by it's wrist. Mike pushed the other hand away and went to stand by manitoba. D walked into view, "C'mon...did you really think it was someone else...I AM the darkness!" Mike went up to D slowly with no expression on his face then….he punched him in the face, bluntly right in the center, hitting his nose with great impact…. Mike's knuckles were bruised...just like mal's, he started to feel pity towards mal too. D wiped the blood from the nose and lunged at mike, who had no sign of fear in his face as he punched D in the stomach D did an upper cut. Mike fell back and manitoba helped him up while D was on the ground. Both manny and mike went over to give 'em more when all of a sudden...mal and bue's souls were right in D's hand in front of his chest and he began to chuckle as mike and manitoba froze dead in their tracks. The souls seemed to becoming more black, making D smirk, the two looked over at mal and bue's lifeless bodies and they were starting to fade. Mike saw the two fading but his expression remained emotionless, shocking D but manitoba ran over to them and tried poking their faces and stretching their cheeks, nothing. D began to laugh harder until it was maniacal while mike just stayed emotionless and manitoba panicked.

~Mike's side~

Chester had told them all to focus with great intensity especially since manny left. He was concentrating more on simply getting inside and so...with that, they were all in the board room. (previously, a dungeon...only now it has a big table, some chairs, and that cool "one light source room" so that it's all dark all around to create more dramatic effect.) They all had found themselves randomly sitting in seats for a table that could seat 20 and chester was at the head. Vito gave a look of sarcasm and slight surprise, svetlana was just amazed at what chester can do with his imagination. "ALRIGHT YOU NINNY'S TIME TO GET DOWN TO BUSINESS!" Chester announced. This made the slouching two sit up straight like they were in a strict classroom and svetlana chimed in, "our team is starting to diminish,manitoba, mike und bue are gone, ve're eazily outnumbered." "Yeah and without bue and mal, how we gonna get to mal's si-" "D's side." Chester corrected, svetlana and vito both were shocked and worried. (Imagine those anime moments of surprise between the characters and how it'll show a close up of part of their faces one by one in separate sections until the screen has been filled...like that…) Svetlana tried to remain calm as she took a deep breath…. "VHAT DO YOU MEAN, D'S SIDE?! YOU CRETEN!" Vito looked at her, shocked as did chester. "Aye yo, how come we can't just 'imagine' the darkness barrier gone, huh?!" Vito asked while imitating chester. He got annoyed and hit vito with his cane for his sarcasm and svetlana for raising her voice without patience, they both held their heads from the bump that has now developed. "First off, mal and bue's souls have been acquired by D...if he were to damage them in any way...even a little scratch would make them disappear into the darkness and D would finally have what he wanted. As for the darkness itself, the barrier is too strong to go through even with our powers combined we wouldn't be able to break through to the other side unless we're escorted." "What about bue's telepathy and the teleportation." "The barrier." Chester responded bluntly, making vito sweat nervously as he felt so helpless, _I'm supposed to be the tough guy 'round here! _He thought but calmed down afterwards and his face changed to serious. "Zen...vhat's za plan?" Svetlana asked, folding her arms, chester looked down and sighed. "Have either of you got any brains in those air filled skulls of yours?!" He knocked vito's head again to emphasize his point. "We're gonna send a mirror over there to see what's going on so far-" "AND THEN WHAT?! JUST SIT AROUND HERE UNTIL IT'S OVER?!" Vito now had three bumps on his head. "YOU FOOLS! IF WE WERE TO CHARGE IN BLINDLY, LIKELY D WOULD LET US IN, IS THE PROBLEM!" Chester yelled at the both of them, making the two jump out of their seats. Svetlana mustered up the courage to ask him about his statement. "VHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'HE VOULD LET US IN', WHY IZ ZAT A PROBLEM?!" "BECAUSE!-...ugh...we could be trapped in there and if WE did…, the last people on mike's side were to disappear….what do YOU think would happen to this side, hmm?! "Vito and svetlana looked down in understanding. "Now then, we'll each send three at once." "...sure…." they both said in sync with their heads slumped down.


	23. Chapter 23 Prisoner

~ "I think it's obvious who's side we're talking about after a transition at this point"~

Mike went for the souls D was holding until mike felt a hand on the arm that was reaching for the souls. It wasn't manitoba but….bue. Even with the flap covering her eye you could still tell it was tightly closed as if it had been hit while the other was squinting like she was struggling to keep it open. "Bue?" Bue began to crawl towards D who didn't change his expression but stayed calm instead. Manitoba was holding mal's head up then saw bue's leg moving and he jumped. She slowly got up, shocking mike and manitoba. She started to walk to D and he didn't hesitate to give back the souls but right after she touched them...her's disappeared as manitoba and mike crawled away from bue while holding each other. "Y-you d-don't have a-" "soul. Yes that's right...the orb that I was holdin' was another o' HIS illusions." Bue stated, pointing at D who just blew his hair up and out of his face, bored. "Care to explain?!" Mike asked getting over his fear...slightly, still shaking his legs. "I was created from the darkness, just as mal, an' the darkness doesn't have a soul...now does it?" D began to get up and walked over to bue but not before kicking mike in the stomach. He grabbed his leg and swung him back into the darkness where he couldn't be seen. Bue was still holding mal's 'soul' until he started to get suspicious. _When bue picked up both of their souls….her's disappeared because it was D's illusion so why hasn't mal's vanished? _Mike looked down at an unconscious mal then back up at bue and noticed her eyes hadn't turned crimson….they were brown but still showed no expression. Mike had a look of awe on his face with shock, bue knelt down next to mal and flipped him over so he was facing up and gave him his soul back. Mike was even more confused now. Mal's eyes opened slowly and he shot up making bue fall on her butt, "OW!" He was surprised at what he saw, not much he remembered but then noticed mike. The expression on his face wasn't what he was expecting….disgust and pity. Mal just looked uneasy and upset and looked at bue to see if SHE had any answers, she just told him through his thoughts. _Mike saw the memory of you stabbing his father, he's lost his trust in you. I'm sorry… _Mal just looked away and felt sorry for himself and mike. Footsteps were approaching, bue slapped her forehead… "WHY WON'T YOU DIE!" Then slowly dragged it down her face while looking back up at D, mal was looking down with his eyes closed and more of his hair came over his face. D helped bue up as well as mal, he had reached out his hand but mal wouldn't reach out his so D just yanked him up by his upper arm. Bue was surprised but when D looked into her eyes again, she was starting to get annoyed and now looked at him with just disgust as she slapped away the hand that was holding her's. It left a mark and mal quietly chuckled under his breath, mike and manitoba just stood and watched awkwardly as the three quarreled. Then D started reaching for her head and she cringed until she noticed what he was doing, pulling something out of her hair. A big red bow, she turned and glared at manitoba then D dropped the bow on the ground and it turned into sand as a wind current blew it away. She sighed in relief that she no longer looked all 'frilly', she took her hair out of the rubber band and started flicking it around like some wet dog. Everyone put their arms over their heads for cover of her spiky long hair. D saw her stop shaking her hair and lowered his arms just to get a fist to the face once more. "BUE! WHAT THE HELL?!" She stomped her foot in his direction with an angry look in her eyes, "YOU GOT ME ALL BLOODY TO BEGIN WITH!" Bue yelled at him, they both looked back at D's wound wrapped in the gauze but there was still a big blood stain where he was stabbed, her hair was still dripping with water and her back was soaked but still in her army uniform that had been cleaned. He snapped his fingers and all of a sudden she was dry and turned her back to her normal clothes, in an attempt to slightly calm her down so she wouldn't go ballistic. It worked but then, while bue was distracted, D stared at manitoba and mike with a tight glare as his crimson eyes started to glow and within a few seconds, mike and manitoba were transported back to the board room where everyone else was at and were looking around frantically trying to figure out what just happened. Ignoring everybody's shocked looks, the two ran out of the board room and hallway in an attempt to get back to mal and bue, worried for their safety. They both were equally concerned seeing that the darkness was...shrinking.

Meanwhile back in the darkness… "D! Bring them back!" D just looked down along with bue "no, mal...I think it's time you accept your true nature. C'mon...come with us...back into the darkness." Mal stepped back in fear. "It's not like it's a prison there's gonna be games like soldier or sailor...and we can play whenever we want! Doesn't it sound fun?" Bue told him with a smile but when mal shook his head telling her "no", her eyes turned black and her smile faded. "Mal….you were born here. Don't you want to stay in the place that suits you best?" D asked with his glowing evil eyes, he stepped back once more but then stood his ground when he looked at bue. "Bue, c'mon...don't you remember having friends with mike and I, you protected them with all your strength and it worked. You were happy with them just as I was...I saw you smile." Bue's black eyes went back to brown and her face looked ill and she began to sweat as she stepped back like something had hit her. D noticed this and tried to grab hold of bue but she was frozen. When he saw her eyes turn brown, he knew that bue was beginning to snap out of the influence she was under by the darkness. "Bue, you held up the forcefield that saved mike's side AND his personalities...you called them your friends!" Mal told her, bue looked at him in fear and with that last word...she immediately snapped out of it all, she shook her head trying to get over her daze then turned to D with a menacing look. Mal's eyes shimmered with hope and surprise that bue got over the spell. She went over to D and kneed him in the stomach. He toppled to the ground and began to grow more and more frustrated. The darkness was beginning to close in on them, bue walked nervously closer to mal and clutched his arm. They both looked down after they heard a chuckle and saw D fading away, they both sighed in relief under their breath until they realized that he was chuckling for a reason and they both started to get scared when he stood up. His eyes were glowing fiercely and that devilish smile crept up on to his face, frightening bue and mal but both were still in confusion as to why D was the one laughing if he's…., they looked down at themselves and saw each other fade. "If I'm goin' down...I'M TAKING YOU BOTH WITH ME!" D yelled at them. He had such cold eyes and his grin was so malicious it made their blood run cold. Bue and mal's faces started to change and were completely horrified, the dark circles, the sharp teeth, black bottomless eyes all began to return but neither of them were angry, just scared. The darkness moved in closer and there was nowhere to run, bue held on to mal and started to sob. "I DON'T WANNA DIE!" She screamed then fell to her knees and mal just kept looking around but then bue and mal had remembered that they could just focus and an exit would appear. They tried and D just laughed some more when he heard their thoughts, bue and mal looked at D with a vicious glare, he laughed harder. Then mal saw a mirror show up...it was mike's and he was standing there waiting for a response until he noticed that none of them could talk at all anymore and were all almost entirely invisible, mal slowly walked up to the mirror and put his hand on it where mike's was and a single tear fell from him. Both were silent until mike finally spoke "...I forgive you…", then he saw mal mouth the words "I'm sorry". D grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him away from the mirror and bue by her arm, he concentrated on the mirror and it slowly disappeared as mike began to bang on the glass, crying. Mal tried to hold his nails to the ground but just left claw marks….and they were carried away into the darkness along with D. And just like that…, they were gone. On mike's side, mike had fallen to his knees with manitoba beside him he got down with him and patted his back, trying to calm him down. The others had come out of the hallway and ran to mike who was balling. Before they could even get to him, he disappeared with a flash of light.

~On the outside~

Mike shot up from his bed and looked around frantically until he saw his mother sitting beside him holding his hand. A sad look spread across his face as he leapt into her arms and sobbed, her smile from her son waking up quickly faded when she was all of a sudden holding a crying child in her arms. "Honey, what's wrong, what happened?" Mike was coughing and trying to catch his breath over his crying but couldn't, he just wasn't able to speak. Hs mom understood how sad he was and so she picked him up and brought him to the bathroom to have a drink of water. He choked it down then splashed a little in his face to wake him up a some more. She didn't want to force her son to speak so the two just remained silent as she began to walk him towards the kitchen, mike stopped just before they were at the door, it brought up bad memories. His mother decided to take him over to the couch and she went into the kitchen and got him a small bowl of ice cream in hope of calming his nerves. At this point mike was shaking, when he finished his ice cream he told his mother very softly that he'd like to stay up, it was around 3am ish and his mom had bags under her eyes so she just decided to meet his demands. "But when you're ready to fall asleep, don't sleep on the couch...I want you to come to me in my bedroom, I'll leave my door open and you can just crawl into the bed with me...ok?" He nodded with an emotionless expression. So she left for her room knowing there was nothing more for her to do now but give him some space. In his mind his personalities were watching this through the mirror, worried.

In bed, his mother started thinking when she looked at the calendar above her desk. She got nervous when she saw a date coming up soon that she had forgotten, her husbands judgment day in court. The pillow behind her back was beginning to get wet at this point from her sweat, she took the pillow off of the bed and put it in the closet. Mike was just sitting on the couch watching tv on low volume and trying to successfully piece everything together from the start. He got a writing pad and began to put it all down, it took about an hour for it all to get jotted down on paper. When he reviewed his writing, his face stayed emotionless. This lasted until morning when his mom walked into the living room where the couch and mike was, she had expected to see mike sleeping assuming he forgot the small promise he had made but when she went over to the couch, mike wasn't sleeping. He was still wide awake, at this time it was 9am which shocked his mom greatly who was starting to get anxious. Then the phone rang making her jump as she ran into the kitchen to get the call. When she picked up it was the principal, there had been multiple calls about what 'mal' had done so this wasn't new but she was beginning to get annoyed by these. The caller ID said the number of the principal's but there was a girl's voice on the other end, "Are you...zoey?" "Yeah." The girl answered so bluntly she didn't know how to respond. "I wanted to talk to you about mike…". She made a nasty face and grr'd quietly, the girl had a feeling she'd get this and tried to fix the conversation before it got worse. "L-look, it's not about what happened earlier between us...I called because I was worried, I noticed my dad was calling you a lot lately but I don't know why though. He already told you how mad he was at mike's behaviour...but...yesterday at school, I was wondering why mike was bullied so much…". She almost dropped the phone since her hand was shaking that mike might lose another friend. "I heard over a few kids shoulders and they were talking about how mike has multiple personalities...is it true?" His mother was reluctant to answer but if she wanted to keep being mike's friend then lying would get her nowhere. "Y-yes...it's true, he does." Growing a tad impatient with this slow call she decided to cut right to the chase, "Is there any other reason to why you called?" There was a small pause before she answered. "When I was getting beat up by the bus with all those kids on top of me and I saw mike...The look in his eyes weren't his usual ones. I've heard of having mean people in your head...I saw a few shows about it…does he have one?" "Unfortunately...yes and no…". The girl was confused and went to dig deeper, "Whaddaya mean?" "Long story.." "I got time!" She said excitedly, on both sides they pulled up chairs. Mike heard this and quietly walked up to the door to listen in. The whole story took about an hour though zoey didn't yawn or anything on the other end indicating that she was bored or tired. When she finished her story there was a small pause until zoey spoke, "That's ALL true? All of it truly, honestly, truthfully true?" "...Y-yes…". "Well?! How's he doing?! Is he okay, I'm dressed, can I come over?!" "Oh, uh, I-I d-don't think that's such a good ide-" "Let her come over, it's fine with me…". Mike stood in the doorway with his more normal happy look on his face, his mother was surprised and hesitantly agreed. His mom hung up on the phone, "I want to be able to apologize in person...for what HE did!" She was in shock, _I thought they made up. _"All right...go take a shower and get dressed, I'll make lunch since it's a little late for breakfast-" "-no gumbo." Mike told her as he ran off to get a towel and his mom giggled.


	24. Chapter 24 romance blooms sorta kinda

While mike was in the shower he became deep in thought, when the water started to get cold, he snapped out of it then peeked through the curtains to look at the mirror. He concentrated and tried to do what bue did but….it wouldn't work. After he finished washing in freezing water he shivered over to his room and started to dry off. When he got dressed, there was a great smell in the air and went to the kitchen to see what it was, grilled cheese and tomato soup. Mike looked over to the table and saw zoey in the middle of dipping her grilled cheese in the soup. "Hey mike! come sit next to me!" She told him excitedly. She was just happy to see 'mike' after a whole week. He smiled and walked up to the seat just as his mom brought out his serving. She seemed calmer now and zoey apparently doesn't hold grudges luckily, mike was relieved. After they ate mike asked if it would be ok to play outside since it was a nice day, his mom nodded and the two ran out of the house. There was a big tree in their backyard and so they went on to climb it, "race 'ya to the top!" Mike told her excitedly, zoey nodded. "READY...SET...GO!" They both declared as they ran to opposite sides of the tree and began to climb. Mike's side was awful, he had to seriously stretch to get from one branch to the other, thus, putting zoey in the lead. Then he gasped, alerting zoey who had an emergency inhaler in her dress pocket and was about to pull it out until she remembered the phone conversation with his mother and how he gasps before he turns into one of his personalities. She was curious to see who this was, just then she saw mike's face change and his eyes 'sparkled' as he leaped in the air doing multiple flips in between jumps from limbs until he/she caught up to zoey who was in shock at what she was seeing. "Mike?" "Svetlanaaaa!" She sang as she did one more flip making it to the top, "beat you!" Zoey climbed up quicker and caught up to rest on one of the tree limbs, "so it IS true! Mike really DOES have multiple personalities!" Svetlana looked nervous at her statement worrying that she might have done something wrong since mike was trying so hard to keep it a secret. "THAT'S SOOOO COOL!" Zoey's face glistened with surprise and happiness and svetlana sighed in relief. Mike's mom was watching through the window in her bedroom and smiled that they were getting along even though she couldn't hear them.

Mike was switched back and nearly fell from the tree when it happened since he was standing on a thin branch on one foot like a frickin' tightrope walker and plummeted until he grabbed a branch directly across from zoey so he was hanging from the limb with nothing below him. But they both laughed about it as he finally got his arms completely over the branch but couldn't go any further up making zoey giggle some more and mike blushed. Then he remembered what he had done before, the last time that he saw her and there was a short pause between the two. "Ummm...zoey?" "yeah?" "I-I just wanted to apologize for what happened at the bus stop last time…." "it's fine, don't sweat it! And I know what you're thinking and I'm perfectly fine with being your friend no matter the way we're treated OR that you have MPD...it's totally ok." She smiled at him and he smiled back with another blush, this time, she blushed too. They both laughed and started chatting about what's been going on lately with them, luckily zoey did most of the talking and mike was happy to listen. Not too long after zoey started her story mike had already gotten off of his branch and on a closer one to zoey, the sun was setting and the light shined through the leaves hitting her just right so it seemed as though she sparkled and soon enough, mike was sitting on the same branch as zoey next to each other while zoey continued talking about the past week and during school and at home with her dad. Mike listened with no complaint of her rambling as he smiled like a love-struck goofball, his mom had stopped watching them and was now simply watching tv waiting for them to come in, she had sort of a feeling that it'd be mean to interrupt them, not when her son was having fun with his friend and not while she could still hear their joyous laughter, _let them come down on their own. _She thought with a warm smile and conveniently looking at a romance drama.

Another hour had passed and so she assumed that they wouldn't be leaving that tree any time soon so she decided to call zoey's father to ask if she can sleep over. It was her mother that answered and she secretly sighed in relief then asked her about the sleepover. She said yes, luckily not having to deal with her short tempered father. Night had fallen and his mother was beginning to worry, _don't tell me they're going to stay up in that tree all night. _It was a full moon night and all the stars were visible and the little amount of clouds there were surrounded the moon perfectly making it shine even more. Zoey had finished her story and when the moon came up the two turned around on the tree branch to face the moon, where they were was an open spot on the tree (there was a big gap of leaves surrounding them with a big opening in the middle of sight for perfect viewing like a big movie screen.) and they both were just completely silent. It was a long pause until a gust of wind came, nearly throwing the two off the branch and now they were hanging from the branch upside down like monkeys, luckily zoey wore brown leggings under her dress. The blood started rushing to their heads and they both laughed at each other's red faces and tried to swing up...it wasn't too successful seeing as now they're both just hanging from their arms now but neither cared and just remained calm as they both faced the hypnotizing moon. His mom heard giggles once more and smiled. When mike and zoey climbed up back onto the branch and sat down next to each other they were blushing. Mike slid his hand along the tree limb slowly closer to zoey's hand, when he grasped it zoey looked down immediately and blushed even more then looked back up at mike with a smile, mike smiled back. In his mind manitoba, vito, and svetlana were in chairs eating popcorn looking at the mirror in front of them like a movie screen. Zoey began to lean in slowly and closed her eyes as well as mike. The moon shined a beautiful light on them creating a silhouette of two figures holding hands….and kissing. Svetlana squealed in excitement like a little cheerleader as vito almost choked on his popcorn and manitoba looked away blushing in embarrassment. The romantic moon got hidden by clouds and mike opened his eyes, when he did he accidently lost his balance and fell from the branch. Zoey was frightened for mike and tried to grab his hand before he fell but it was too late. It was when the moon came back that mike had already touched the ground and hit his head creating a large bump. She climbed down as fast as she could to get to mike, while she did she was calling for mike's mom who rushed outside the minute she heard her scream. Zoey got down beside mike and his face was twitching with a few bruises, his mother had rushed to him and got down to pick him up. "It wasn't his fault, it was mine...i'm really sorry, i-it's not like I pushed him but we were...distracted…." Mike's mom just looked away with her eyes tightly shut and a single tear was shown by moonlight, zoey looked down feeling overwhelmingly guilty. _I could've done something! But….why didn't I? _She looked up at the clouded moon again and thought hard about it, not noticing how blank her expression was as she stared aimlessly at it. Something wasn't right… "ZOEY". Mike's mom alerted her, she snapped out of it and looked to where the lights of the kitchen window were and saw his mother making gestures with her hand telling her to come in. Zoey ran into the house and saw mike with a bandage on his head where he was hit, he was all right and smiling and for once….awake.


	25. Chapter 25 they're baaaack

Without a word he started walking toward the bathroom, his mother was putting the bandages away so she didn't see him leave, zoey went after him. Mike closed the door behind him but zoey heard nothing after he entered, she tried not to think about it seeing as the boy was in the bathroom until all of a sudden...she heard voices and they weren't mikes. _What the-...,who's he-... _She put her ear to the door to listen better. In the bathroom, mike put his hand to the mirror and closed his eyes tightly, he was like this for almost 30 seconds before he actually heard another voice through the mirror. "YES! BULLSEYE!" It was..bue's, mike smiled at this, he had been wanting to look into the darkness and so he felt a little more confident after he hit his head in hopes it might trigger something. Mike released his hand from the mirror and opened his eyes to see bue, mal, and D. Bue and D were throwing knives at a dartboard with pictures of mike and his personalities on it and mal was sulking in a corner, his eyes were squinted and more of his hair covered his face, all three of them were in D's room and the lights were very dim. Mike had a very serious look on his face instead of happiness that his TWO friends were alive(you knew I wouldn't get rid of them for long). He just decided to listen in on their conversation. "So, bue…" D started as he threw another knife into mike's face, he flinched. "So, what?" Bue threw another knife, this time at svetlana, "What do you think of changing your name?" Bue had a confused look on her face. "Whaddaya mean? Change ma' name? What's wrong with 'bue'?" "Nothing, I'm just saying..if you were to change your name, what would it be?" D asked curiously, bue looked confused at first but after some thought, "Buena. Bueno's for boys!" D wasn't surprised since she had been sharing a boy's body, D was the one who named her after all. "Sure...Buena." Bue blushed quickly before focusing back onto the dartboard and continued throwing.

Mal looked up and yawned with a disgusted glare at D. he saw this and his expression changed to annoyed. "What mal?!""You two are sickening, why don't 'ya both just get married_..._and LET ME LEAVE!" Mal impatiently yelled as his eyes turned black and the dark circles, sharp teeth and black aura came back, this made D smile an evil grin, pissing off mal even more. "Let...me...go!" Mal warned, D didn't care as he put the knives down, leaving bue to continue practicing her aim. "Why don't 'ya just...stay angry, you look much better when you do, I don't even need that fuel anymore, I just simply enjoy seeing the two of you so frustrated, it reminds me of...me!" "I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU!" "Stop bein' in denial 'ya panzie, I 'cept it an' it doesn't botha' me!" Bue interrupted throwing another knife at the board, it was starting to get too full of knives so she started walking up to the board to pull some out while D and mal continued their bickering. "All you wanted was to be with mike, didn't you!" D said in a mocking tone as mal's dark aura got bigger and his eyes looked more evil but remained silent. _All __I__ want is to get the HELL outta here! _Mal thought with clenched fists. "The look on your face when you were about to be dragged into the darkness was priceless, how scared you looked. It's always amusing whenever one of you loses your 'cool', HA!" D laughed maniacally and when bue finished taking the 23 knives out of the huge dartboard, walked back to where she was standing and took aim once more, she imagined her slingshot and took focus on the board and created a huge picture of D on it and began firing. She also made sure to get D's attention so he could see what she was doing. "HEY!" "TAKE THAT, D!" Mal ran over to bue and picked up several knives and took aim as did bue, they began firing. Then D noticed that with each knife bue flung, her eyes grew darker until they were black.

Mike, meanwhile, was starting to get nervous as he bit his fingernails quickly. _What's gonna happen to them? I want them to be okay no matter what, if only __I__ could go into the darkness and get them!...or…, what if…-" _Mike cut himself off in mid-thought, thinking about all the stress his mother has been through lately, he didn't want to add more to her heavy load. He looked down...then….some hair came over his RIGHT eye, when he looked back into the mirror and saw a very faint image of his reflection through the seeing mirror he looked just like mal. Then zoey had a feeling that mike would look in her direction and see a shadow by the door, knowing it'd seem suspicious, she decided to lean on the door. (had her legs far away from the door behind her causing a 'michael jackson lean', if you will, against the door so the shadow of her feet couldn't be seen as she continued to remain silent.) It was starting to get late so she assumed that by now, mike's mom would be passed out. Her face was more of seriousness than concern since the bump he secured on that 'landing'. An 'Idea Lightbulb' struck him when he saw how much he looked like mal as a plan formed in his mind. The personalities saw what mike was seeing and became worried, knowing his emotions, they knew he wanted to bust them out anyway he could. They were all deeply concerned with what they thought he was strategizing. Mike noticed that the more the two fired, the angrier they got making them slightly easier to control, when he saw their eyes beginning to turn red he closed his own eyes tightly and turned the mirror back to the way it was as he thought about his ploy. When zoey heard his footsteps on the tiles, she panicked and tip-toed away as fast as a tip-toer could tip-toe(try saying THAT ten times fast haha.). She was halfway down the hall...in the direction of mike's room…. When mike got out he first looked to where his mother was then the other way and saw a frozen zoey, balancing in the most bizarre way, her knee was to her chest in mid-step and was on only 3 of her toes with the foot that was on the ground and she was hunched over as if carrying a large weight on her back (this is rather impossible…). _Is she taking gymnastics?_


	26. Chapter 26 mine forever

~In mike's mind~

Everyone was running to the hallway and toward mike's room since it was late they were expecting him to come by soon. Until then, chester and vito went toward the board room to summon a mirror to contact mike quicker. Svetlana was looking at a clock and it was close to midnight, manitoba was merely sitting on his bed trying to think a few things out like what was up with the moon? It was jus' a full moon….but…. _It wasn't a full moon, I saw in the mirror…., there was a small sliver of shadow from the rest of it...it was so small that it jus' SEEMED like a full moon...so then what __really__ caused it. Something fishy's goin' on. _"I need to check up on something, I'll be back." "VHAT?! Manitoba, vhat do you mean?! Are you goink to take control?" Manitoba got off of the bed and readjusted his fedora as if preparing for a trip and nodded when he looked at svetlana. He disappeared with a flash of light but….svetlana remained alone in the room, normally when one takes control the other appears in their place immediately in just a split second. This worried svetlana and so she ran out of the room to find vito and chester who already noticed that manitoba was in charge, when svetlana burst in they were surprised to not see mike with her. "Svetlana where's mike?!" She had a panicked look on her face, "WELL?! speak up 'ya goof!" "I don't know!" Both looked at svetlana then each other with scared faces. Then an idea came to them all at the same time, svetlana walked up closer to where vito and chester were and pulled up her own mirror but larger than the others and she chose to summon...the darkness, when vito saw the glass start to get clouded with the same black and purplish mist he began to shake with some fear, chester hit him in the head with his cane. "STOP BEIN' SUCH A WUSS 'YA NINNY!" He rubbed his head around the other five bumps and stopped shaking as an image started to appear three figures started to show until it was clear, it showed bue and mal repeatedly throwing knives at a dartboard. When svetlana got a close up on the board and the pictures, it wasn't D's picture which bue had imagined but...mike's, everyone gasped and wondered why the two would be doing this until the others noticed that both of their eyes were turning blood red...not D's usual crimson but BLOOD red, they all were horrified. "No wonder mike wants to do something for them, I feel bad for 'em." "Vhat can ve do chester?" "what, just 'cause I'm the wisest one here doesn't mean I always have a plan, how 'bout 'ya look into your OWN noggins for once and try to hatch a plan out've your own pea sized brains!?" This made everyone pause to try and think about this for once and after 30 or so seconds… "You couldn't think of one could 'ya." It didn't even need to be in the form of a question, it was more of a statement as svetlana and vito turned away from chester and sighed since they weren't able to think of anything and just looked back at the mirror. The minute they did they became frozen with fear with what they were witnessing.

Bue and mal, being stuck in the darkness with D seemed to be coming closer and closer to being completely overwhelmed by his influence. They were able to tell what was happening but their bodies were acting on their own while D watched with pleasure as the two got progressively more frustrated. They had been engulfed with their black aura while their faces looked even more sinister with the dark circles and a shadow around their eyes and upper face. A mysterious wind blew making their hair flaps fly up to reveal both dark blood red sadistic eyes. Bue used all her strength to stop just her right hand as she tightly shut her eyes for as long as she could and snapped her fingers. Everything was black for a small second then they all found themselves in a huge raging storm on a ginormous classic wooden ship. each of them struggled for balance while bue blew D a raspberry and he just got pissed off then she clapped her hands and everyone was in sailor outfits. Bue was in a sailor girl outfit(as in, in a skirt!) and a big gust of stormy wind came through….bue's skirt flew up. She immediately pushed it down but the wind kept going so she had to keep her hands there, she couldn't snap her fingers to make it a skort. She blushed with a large frown and her eyes were big with embarrassment then she looked up and saw mal and D staring at her with shocked faces. When their noses began to bleed D covered mal's eyes and snapped his own fingers to give bue shorts, she sighed in relief then punched the two boys in the face for looking in the first place. The ship started to tilt with the heavy rain, wind, and rushing water. Bue and mal ran and clung to a big barrel...and it was ROLLING!(I had to do it….you know I did hahaha!). D smirked as he imagined a captain hat and ran to the steering wheel, the minute he turned it the ship was brought back to balance though the two hit the side of the ship with a great impact, bue got a bruise on her shin and mal got some bruises on his arms with a couple splinters from the wet wood of the shipside. "OW!" They both yelped in sync over the loud thunder and sound of the heavy rain hitting the deck. They both staggered up to the huge wheel where D was, it was hard to see each other since the sky was still pitch black with very small purple haze mixture, it was only when lightning struck in the background that they could see one another though neither showed any sign of fear despite the situation they were in. None of them wanted to change the scenery back to the plain black pointless looking room. Bue smiled and giggled, "SO CA'N(captain in bue language.) WHA'NOW?!" She yelled over the storm to D who replied with a smirk and mal rolled his eyes. "I GOTTA GET THIS BOAT TO SHORE BUT I'LL NEED YOUR HELP!" "HOW SO?!" Mal asked hesitantly but still, even HE began to get into the mood of the game. "THE SAIL ISN'T OPEN, AND MAL, I NEED YOU TO GO TO THE LOOK-OUT AND TRY TO SPOT SOME OBSTACLES!" They nodded and limped away quickly while D tried to make the ship secure for better balance. Bue got to some of the barrels but she scowled at the stack before climbing it hesitantly bearing a grudge. When she finally got to the top there was a rope, she grabbed it as another ton of salty sea water wind blew, throwing her completely off of the tower of barrels and she held onto the rope for dear life while she flopped around because of the non-stop wind. It looked like a fish out of water attached to a 'hook'. Mal had made it to the top of the look out and noticed a large spike in the water, they'd drown the ship. "D GO LEFT!" D heard him and spun the wheel like an ameteur causing bue to fly off of the rope and she was in the air for what seemed like an hour as a flash of lightning struck behind her showing a silhouette of a sailor girl flying off board. "BUE!" Mal and D yelled in sync, She hit the hard waves with a huge splash. D dove after her before mal could slide down but after he did he staggered to the wheel and attempted to balance the ship but it was stuck. D was in the water but bue was nowhere to be found then he saw knives come to the surface, he knew that bue must be fighting something underwater and he went down to find her. It wasn't long before he saw bue trying to throw knives at something below her. A tentacle was holding the leg she had with the bruises, she was biting her lip guessing that she was trying her best not to let out a scream that would make her lose the air in her lungs. He also noticed her eyes were black and her teeth had sharpened when he looked down and saw a huge squid, he was just in 'stupid shock'. _What the hell is a squid doing here?! __I__ didn't imagine it!_

_It was mal, stupid!_

_Bue?_

_Who else?_

_You said it was mal?_

_We can BOTH read minds, di'nt 'ya hear 'im?!_

_There's a huge storm out there and I'M captain_

_True. Mal was thinkin' tha' if the boat's takin' down you'll too!_

_You sound worried, I thought you hated me? _D thought with a smirk

_I DO! But I'm also neutral, I couldn't care less 'bout bein' stuck here, I accept tha' I was born here an' don't give a crap. Not even the fact that I'm a personality…-_

_MY personality!_

_Braggart...anyway, WOULD 'YA JUS' 'MAGINE A MISSILE ALREADY SO I CAN KICK THIS THIN'S BUTT! I CAN'T FOCUS!_

_So you're just imagining knives repeatedly_

_What? Am I supposed to be your __creative__ personality?!_

_That's right..you're my SARCASTIC personality!_

Bue scowled and moved her hands closer to D's neck but the thick density of the water was holding her back, D closed his eyes tightly and imagined a missile launcher fully loaded knowing it would please bue and her short temper. She smirked and took it from him but then the squid got her arm and her ankle and yanked her down as she began to run out of air. She tried to imagine a breathing mask but for some reason it wouldn't work, D started to go after her and swam as fast as he could. Her face turned red and she started getting dizzy and her vision went hazy. After a little while bue woke up in the previous dark room and surprisingly sighed in relief despite the fact that she didn't get to brutally murder the squid, D heard her thoughts and did a facepalm. Then she latched onto mal and started punching him repeatedly, "'YA B******! WHY THE HELL DID 'YA 'MAGINE A **** SQUID, 'YA ************* ****!" She moved from punching to slapping and her eyes turned her own shade of blood red, frightening mal. D was a little surprised and dumbfounded and, after giggling a little he finally decided to hold her back until mal grabbed her hands and pushed her back. They couldn't imagine a huge blazing sun in the background for dramatic effect. D snickered then frowned with a bored face as the two began to wrestle, after a small while D walked up to mal and bue slowly but neither noticed him until D put his hand on mal's shoulder. He was electrocuted and fell to the ground, surprising bue. Something came out from his back, "is that mal's…-". D ignored her as he knelt down and picked it up "-soul, yes...and it's mine." "What?" Bue asked suspiciously just as D put the soul in HIS body, worrying bue. "He was starting to bug me...now he's mine forever…". Bue was starting to get scared as she slowly backed away, "D….wha-what do 'ya mean….?" He turned around to face her but when he looked up, his face looked sadistic...the face of a killer, frightening bue even more. "Would YOU like to be mine forever as well...buena?" Bue's expression was of horror, she looked upset and sick to her stomach...for once she was TRULY afraid. D smiled but bue shook her head quickly, she had a feeling that he would chase her if she ran but nothing else honestly came to mind. "I-I'll get upset, I'll scream, I'll-" "no one can hear you…". Bue ran away as fast as she could(remember in previous chapters; about 10-15 miles an hour running speed.) D walked but according to bue, he was catching up. She was nothing but afraid but just kept running.

_YOU'RE NUTS!_

_You noticed, I'm flattered._

"MANNY, SVET, VITO, CHESTER...ANYBODY! HELP!" _When will you learn that they can't hear you? _"SHUT UP!" She ran faster. Meanwhile, everybody was looking into the mirror and were horrified. "Ve've got to do somesinc!" vito and svetlana started to back up and rammed into the mirror head first but it just bounced them back, "DRAT!" Svetlana exclaimed, chester payed no mind while he continued to look into the unharmed mirror and saw another shadow other than the two runners. While bue ran, she noticed the shadow following her but it distracted her and so she hit a wall. It was a corner so she chose to run left, she ran around more corners and more walls until she was surrounded by multiple pathways in one big room. "It's a maze…" "are you shocked?" D caught up to her making her blood run cold, she turned around and saw D about 7 feet away. She got into a fighting stance, "now now, no need to be hasty bue." Her face was showing anger and she was sweating of nervousness, D walked closer. "YOU GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME! AND GIVE BACK MAL-...'s soul..-" D then was tackled...by a shadow, it was the same shadow that was following her. The room was just light enough to see the real outline and a bit of color and what it looked like shocked bue. "Mal?"


	27. Chapter 27 gimme your soul buena!

"URRGH! GET OFF ME!" "IF YOU'RE GONNA HURT BUE THEN YOU CAN FORGET IT!" Then bue saw his face, it was... mike! But she didn't sigh in relief though. That means mal is still wasting away without his soul. When D heard her thoughts he grinned menacingly knowing how much weaker he is than mal and shoved him back against the wall then he looked at bue in the eye, _thanks...buena. _At first she looked distraught but then angry and frustrated as her eyes turned black once more and her teeth sharpened, D mimicked her expression making her even more angry, she tried to ram him until, just before she was about to punch him she remembered what happened when he grabbed mal's shoulder and came to a complete stop just a few feet away from him. D smirked and looked back at mike, and bue's black aura came back but she looked at D again and stayed in place. "MIKE! MIKE C'MON GET UP!" Mike heard her barely since he was half awake from that shove against the wall. He sprung up and pushed D and he imagined knives, he couldn't think of anything else. D started leaping from place to place, so fast he was almost teleporting. Mike tried to aim properly but just couldn't, he was looking for some kind of pattern to where he'd go. Bue just stood and stared following D's movements perfectly and precisely while it seemed like mike was just spinning his head around randomly. The dark circles came back and her black aura got larger she then yanked the knives from mike's hand and started throwing since she had so much practice. She managed to snag a small piece of his shirt, surprising mike who never would've been able to get even close to him and his speed.

_Impressive bue_

_no sweat_

_ha! you really are quite amusing...it's a shame you're going to be…_

_gone...kicked the bucket...bought the farm…...DEAD! I'm not "yours"!_

"You seem too awfully inconsistent...care to make up your mind?" D asked cockily, bue threw another knife and it scraped his back. He teleported again and reappeared just a few inches from her face making her shriek like a scared little girl(even though she IS technically 8 or at least the body of an 8 year old girl.)and leaped back but lost her balance and tripped falling on her face "oooowwww….". D was about to teleport again but mike put him in a headlock and he started to struggle wildly. "BUE RUN! GET OUTTA HERE!" "NO WAY...I CAN'T JUS'-" "GO!" She nodded reluctantly and ran back the way she came, D stopped struggling and gave a small malicious grin and chuckled under his breath as he quickly raised his arm and a wall closed behind her.

It led to the room where they all were even though she had ran for so long but ignored that when she noticed mal's fading corpse. Her aura went away, the dark under-eye circles, the sharp teeth, the black eyes all went away as she immediately darted toward mal. She was right next to him and tried healing him even though he had no injury.

_Jus' what was I expectin'? _She slumped her head down in defeat until something came to her. Bue raised her arm up and managed to use some of her already depleting strength and summoned two mirrors, one to the outside world and one to mike's side. When she saw the svetlana, chester, and vito looking back at her, a tear came down her face and she grabbed the mirror and brought it close to her. "GUYS CAN 'YA HEAR ME?!" "Yeah, we can hear 'ya and can 'ya keep it down?" This was the last reaction she'd expect and her face changed to sad and surprised but still felt the need to ask them for help. "CAN 'YA SEE ME TOO?! DO 'YA KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKIN' TO?!" "Yes ve can zee you, und like vito zaid...could you pleaze keep it down?" "B-but i-it's bue an' I need 'ya help...I'm trapped in the darkness with ma-" "WE KNOW THAT 'YA INGRATE, DON'T GOTTA REPEAT YOURSELF!" Bue tried to stay calm with this awful news; they didn't care anymore…. She lowered her arm and the mirror went back into the ground and focused on the other mirror. _Wa-was that real…?_

She noticed in the other mirror, manitoba looking up at the moon looking as though he was thinking deeply to figure something out. "My first thought is D but..-" He said while rubbing the bump he got on his head "-How could D control the moon?" _Mike was holdin' her hand when they-...,_he blushed again and rubbed his neck while looking down at the ground but then snapped out of it. "I wonda' if it's possible that D or 'The Darkness' could control another person by makin' contact. If D has THAT kinda power then…" "MIKE!" Zoey yelled, when he turned to face her(he had put on his fedora), he tipped his hat to her and smirked with confidence, she gasped with surprise. "Who're you?" "name's manitoba...manitoba smith nice to see a lovely sheila such as 'ya self in times o' trouble." Zoey blushed with a shocked look on her face but snapped out of it, "ma-manitoba? you looked like you were concentrating on something, did I ruin your train of thought? if so I'm sor-" "no need to apologize sheila, an' 'ya didn't ruin anything." "And just one thing...umm..my name isn't 'sheila' it's zoey…" "I know… 'ya want me to call 'ya that from now on?" "Uh y'you don't have to if you don't wanna I-I-I'm fine with… 'sheila'...i-is that ok?" "You don't gotta be afraid, I'll call 'ya zoey." "Um...ok and what did you mean by 'times of trouble'?" Zoey asked as she walked further outside in the light of the moon and manitoba just stood frozen seeing zoey in person in such beautiful lighting. "Quite the beauty, ain'tcha?" Zoey had another shocked look on her face but was replaced by blushing embarrassment and a sweet smile and rubbed the back of her neck while looking down. "And...hate to be the bringer of bad news but…-". Zoey looked up quickly with alert at manitoba and tried not to look too worried. "-mike's in trouble…" "wha-what?" Zoey looked down as well as manitoba but then shot back up with a determined look on her face. "Something's wrong with that moon, that's what you were thinking about right?!" Manitoba looked up in surprise. "I heard what was going on in the bathroom mirror. Mike was planning on pretending to be mal to fool his mom about something." Manitoba just looked at her, stunned with her smarts and detective skills. He grabbed her hand and they started running toward the bathroom, zoey blushed again when he took her hand. When they entered the bathroom manitoba put his hands onto the mirror and focused with his eyes tightly shut and zoey just looked at him in confusion until she noticed the mirror changing. Dark clouds seemed to appear and felt so 3D that it looked as though they were both completely surrounded in a dark room and you could only see through the mirror. Then a girl showed up facing back at them, manitoba just looked serious while zoey looked surprised. "MANNY! MANNY! CAN 'YA HEAR ME?! CAN 'YA SEE ME?! I NEED 'YA HELP!" The girl with the weird accent spoke. "Yeah, what happened, what's goin' on?" Zoey looked over at manitoba who was just talking so nonchalantly to this random distraught girl. _This is one weird girl! _"I HEARD THA' 'YA JERKIN' REDHEAD!" Zoey was surprised and was wondering just what the heck's going on but both of them ignored her. "BUE! TELL ME...WHAT IS IT?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" She directed the mirror to her left revealing mal unconscious and with dead eyes. "IT WAS D! HE TOOK MAL'S SOUL!" "But he's done that before and with your strength…" "HE PUT IT INTO HIS OWN BODY!" "WHAT?!" She nodded and tears were welling up. "Is there any way that I could take back the soul?" "I don't know, have you asked chester?" "He wouldn't answer…". She looked down, disappointed. "Ok, well then...where's mike?" Zoey looked up, alerted and nervous, she had been tuning them both out since they wouldn't give her the details until she heard mike's name. "MIKE?! WHAT'S WRONG?! IS MIKE OK?!" Zoey asked her panicked. "Hold on, now bue, tell us from the beginning." She took a deep breath and started speaking at light speed, "wewerebuggingDandhetookmal'ssoulandputitinhisbodyandnowhewantsmysoulsoIranawaythenmikecameandthenIwaslockedintothisroomwithmalwho'sdyingthenbecauseIpanickedIcalleduptwomirrorsonetomike'smindtheothertotheoutsidewhenItalkedtotheotherstheywouldn'tlistensoIturneditdownandcalledyoubutyouwerehypnotizedbythemoonthenthatjerkin'redheadcameandyouranheroverhereandso…-" "SLOW DOWN!" Manitoba yelled impatiently. "OK!..." *deep breath in* "well...wewerebuggingDandhetookmal'ssoulandputitinhisbodyandnowhewantsmysoulsoIranawaythenmikecameandthenIwaslockedintothisroomwithmalwho'sdyingthenbecauseIpanickedIcalleduptwomirrorsonetomike'smindtheothertotheoutsidewhenItalkedtotheotherstheywouldn'tlistensoIturneditdownandcalledyoubutyouwerehypnotizedbythemoonthenthatjerkin'redheadcameandyouranheroverhereandso…-". Manitoba did a facepalm then looked up with an annoyed face until zoey put her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down and not kill the girl but she also understood what the distraught girl said and told him a little slower. "OOOOHHH...WHY DIDN'T 'YA SAY SO?!" Bue was ready to strangle him but she couldn't go through the mirror. A cocky smile crept on her face and it looked like she had an idea….worrying manitoba. "What're 'ya gonna do?" "It's fine...I got this heheh." She had the black eyes again and put her hands to her stomach as she began to concentrate. A small light started to shine through where her hands were and developed into a glowing orb, "wha-what's that?" Zoey asked hesitantly, "her core'". She knelt down by mal and put the glowing orb in him. His fading stopped but he didn't open his eyes. "I thought you didn't have a soul." Manitoba rudely stated, "I have a soul...why else would D be chasing me? I have a soul AND a core." "What's that?" Zoey asked stupidly, bue just rolled her eyes but still decided to tell her. "My core is where most of my strength lies...OTHER than my...anger…".

"OH BUUUUEEEE!" A joyful tune rang...with a tad of cockiness mixed in.


	28. Chapter 28 Darkness dies for good?

Bue's cocky look turned to sheer terror, frightening zoey since she was so confident before assuming that whoever just came in was way stronger than her. Then she yelled something that made her blood run cold, "WHERE'S MIKE, D, WHAT'D 'YA DO TO 'IM?!" "D?" Zoey said to herself aloud, "means Darkness...not too long ago D had taken mal and bue into the darkness with him… bue and mal are D's personalities-" "-how could someone else in your mind have his own personalities?" "Everyone has a little bit of darkness in them, well mike's was larger than others and grew progressively because of..certain circumstances and it became a whole other side to his mind and it actually formed into another actual person. Another PERSON in his mind is different from a personality, this side of him was never used...it was just...there so it's anger grew and created more personalities and those personalities are bue, mal, and...D." Zoey just looked down a little sorry she asked. "LOOK OUT!" Just then bue whipped around and hit D in the stomach...that just made him angry and this time he wasn't going to let her run away so he didn't create an opening, bue turned to the mirror and quickly threw her arm down and the mirror went away. Manitoba was about to bang on the glass but then he looked at all the cracks with peeling tape. Just then he came down with a headache and got a little dizzy, "manitoba?" "listen she-...zoey, it's late and tomorrow's monday...and I want to go to school, do me a favor and don't tell mom 'bout this, yeah?" She looked away then back with a sad look and hesitantly nodded, manitoba smiled and staggered to the door with zoey under his arm to help him walk then they heard a sneeze and footsteps running away to behind a corner. "Aw c'mon!" Zoey giggled and manitoba just looked annoyed. They went into mike's room and manitoba, being the gentlemen, put out his sleeping bag and said it'd be ok if she slept in HIS bed and he'd sleep on the floor. She turned as red as her hair and hopped into the bed without a second word unable to face the kind boy. He tipped his hat up and blushed while looking away, they both fell asleep in their clothes.

~In the Darkness~

Bue had just been thrown against a hard stone wall with a big crushing noise….and it wasn't the wall. She had a few broken ribs and had multiple bruises on her arms and legs as she staggered upward and was just barely standing, when D came closer fright came over her face. "I can see you shaking bue, no point in hiding your fear." "Y-you...little…-". He teleported again and landed right in front of bue making her fall back down onto the large pile of rubble. She coughed up some blood on her shirt, D simply grinned viciously, bue shakily lifted her head to look at D. "You shouldn't of given away your core, now you're as weak as an infant!" Bue let her head fall back and she giggled, "what's so funny?" "How 'bout I make 'ya a deal?" "What kinda deal?" Bue paused but then slowly got up, staggering and struggled to face him. "How 'bout...If 'ya give back mal's soul then...I'll give you MY soul...and a kiss as a goodbye present." D blushed but bue remained expressionless while in her mind she snickered. She batted her eyelashes and smiled lovingly as D continued to blush and turn red, he nodded and bue gagged in her mind. She leaned in slowly and D closed his eyes, there was no romantic atmosphere so while D's cold heart thumped bue was just in pain from having to lean forward with broken ribs. Mike woke up at exactly the same time that the two had made reluctant lip contact and mike gasped under his breath as quietly as he could with the most puzzled look on his face, bue noticed and cringed with embarrassment. Then something odd happened, a small light came over bue and as it came down she was healed. This surprised her and D finally let go, the minute he did bue turned around so she wouldn't face him and started wiping her mouth with her shirt and had a sickly green face plastered. She turned back around with a fake warm smile and blush, "it's a shame really, that we can't be together…". Mike saw the look on bue's face right after he kissed her and was surprised at her acting skills, bue's face turned to serious as D really came to. "Now give mal's soul back… you might even get another one." She fake blushed again and 'teehee'd' him as he ran over to mal and started focusing. The glowing orb came out and he gave it back to mal without another word or a second thought. Mal woke up to find D right beside him and he immediately went into a fighting stance, D payed no mind then he saw mike wearing a shocked look and bue who looked like she was about to throw up and he had the look of confusion when D looked over to bue he had an annoyed look on his face. "D...are you REALLY going to take my soul when we could be such a great couple..". D's face changed to serious and angered, "as if I care...I wanted the kiss, yes I'll admit it but…-" D looked away then back with a smirk and bue looked frightened again and also confused, "-it'd just be easier to simply have you without the work of truly developing romance...I saw you gag. If you really DO care then you won't mind being mine...and mine ONLY!" Mal, and mike exchanged glances of surprise and terror. Bue stepped back away from him with each step he took toward her while she continuously shook her head scared down to the bone and repeatedly kept saying "no"(try to picture the shadow man's death in The Princess and the Frog). D ignored her feeble plea, still with the same serious and evil look on his face, mal and mike started running toward bue to help her but, without even looking D waved his hand up and it threw them both back against the wall and they were completely helpless as D put his hand onto bue's shoulder. She screamed with agony, the electrocution was much longer than when mal got shocked and the orb slowly came out and the shocking got more painful as did her murderous cry's until D finally had the whole soul in his hands. He turned back around to face mike and mal with a vicious grin with an unconscious bue behind him with cold dead gray eyes. "NO! NO! D DON'T DO IT PLEASE!" D ignored him and put the orb in his body though it seemed to jump in, as if enthusiastically. D turned to them with a sneer and they scowled back, "heh! So...what do 'ya think?" "I think you're sick!" Mike yelled. "I thought you cared about bue!" Mal continued. "I do...I wanted her! And now...she's mine and it's gonna stay that way, I wasn't about to let her get away again!" D began to walk towards mal slowly, alerting mike. "D YOU PROMISED BUE, YOU WOULDN'T TAKE HIS SOUL IF SHE GAVE YOU HER'S!" He turned to look at mike with bored eyes, "mike you idiot!" Mal muffled under his breath, when D looked back toward him he saw a smirk on mal's face. Mal acted as quickly as possible, he imagined a breathing mask for mike in just a split second and mike looked at him in fear of what he might do. D predicted that he would fill the room with water, drowning them both,mal's eyes turned black and D tried to imagine a breathing mask too. There was a pause when D was unable to create the mask, he couldn't tell what mal would do, D tried not to lose his 'cool' but he just wasn't able to keep his frightened face away as he slowly stepped back. Mal looked both serious and sadistic, he turned to face mike who had a look of fear on his face, mal smiled and he wiped a welling tear from his eye as he threw down his arm… "I'm sorry mike, bye…" "MAL! NOOOOO DON'T!" His arm came fully down and mike was thrown back to his side in the board room where the other's were at. He clung to the wall he was thrown out of and sobbed, he fell to his knees feeling helpless. "MIKE! what'cha doin' ova' there c'mere!" He heard an australian accent from behind him and turned around to face manitoba, he had a serious look on his face making mike paranoid. "Mate…, somethin's wrong with the others." "Whaddaya mean?" "Just look..". Manitoba pointed over in the direction of svetlana, vito, and chester and they weren't moving. "What's going on with them?" "I'm not sure-". Mike started to walk over to them until manitoba swiftly stopped him with his arm in front of his chest to block him from going further. "-Look...do you see that?" "See what?" "Look closer…-". Mike gasped when he gazed at them tightly and saw… "-A MIRROR!" Mike ran over to them, manitoba clung onto his shirt so he was dragged over there. When they both got to their friends they saw that they were staring at the moon. Manitoba and mike tried to cover their eyes but they kept on pushing their hands away without losing eye contact. They both put their hands on the mirror and, like changing a channel, They switched it to the darkness and they saw mal and D in the room together and mal had his hand in the air and his fingers were in the position to snap. When he did a mysterious green gas began to slowly fill the room, mal created his own breathing mask just as he became engulfed in the gas and D couldn't see him, when the gas moved away mal had already turned his mask invisible...but D heard his thoughts and laughed psychotically. "You REALLY think I didn't hear that?! You were going to simply mask yourself with the poison gas so I wouldn't be able to see you then make your breathing mask invisible!..-". Mal looked surprised and tried thinking of something, _I can't just ACT without planning out my strategies! I have to know what I'm gonna do to see if it'll work or not! _… "-Now you're thinking of flooding the room with water and mixing it in the gas to create death water! While we're under and I 'supposedly' run out of air, YOU'RE going to use the strength you got from bue's core and use it ALL up to make a portal to mike's side in order to flee!" Mal glared and he snarled with the sharp teeth showing, D started walking closer to mal with a smug face. "You know…, no matter how much you deny it...we ARE a lot alike, my plans have failed in the past and so have yours. We're both a little evil in our own way and we both have skilled determination and if I couldn't read minds...I'm pretty sure YOUR plans would be just as even as mine!" Mal growled at how badly his pride was being struck, his stubbornness kept him still. He realized something quickly, "how come you haven't died yet?! This gas is almost solid, without a mask you-" mal paused in mid sentence when D flew his hand up and a light shined on him but was reflected and shined around him like an orb… "-, a forcefield?!...". D chuckled with a murderous grin on his face which quickly turned to a psychotic laugh that rang through his ears and his eyes glowed his signature deadly crimson, mal was in awe and stepped back in fear until he was against the wall. His arms were spread out and he focused on one of his hands and it created a small light that started to grow bigger, when D saw he just laughed maniacally and raised his hand as high as possible lifting mal into the air slowly he rose to the tall ceiling. "I heard your blunt thoughts...bue's power won't help you now!" He threw his hand down at light speed and mal fell at the same pace until he was launched and hit the ground with huge, painful impact, creating a large blinding dust cloud and a crater. Finally he acted without prediction of D and put his hand to the ground once more, he concentrated with all his might and managed to do everything at once. With one huge blinding flash of light he made D's forcefield disappear within a split second, got rid of his own mask, tied D to the wall behind him and filled the entire room all the way up to the 50ft high ceiling with water mixed with harsh chemicals. Though the water seemed perfectly clear despite the ingredients mixed in, D looked around in fear frantically while mal smirked and he swam to the wall where the small light he had made was starting to go out, he swiftly put his hands to the wall again and the light grew brighter until it created a shape of a rectangle and a knob appeared. He created a small forcefield so that mike's side wouldn't get flooded and he pulled the knob, the door slowly opened until it was large enough to go through fully...before he did...he looked back at D who was now out cold, with that he went through. A millisecond before he closed the door D's head was already up and he had the biggest sly grin on his face and he turned to black mist which was practically invisible with the dark background and he flew out of the small crack. Mal heard something from behind him and whipped his head around just to see a disappearing door and he sighed with relief then he noticed he was in his room. The pictures were gone which got him suspicious but he just brushed it off assuming manitoba must've thrown them away. He ran out of the room and to the board room. When he made it there, he was greeted by mike running to hug him. There was a couple lights along the side of the large room but mostly one big one in the center creating massive shadows of everybody all in different directions because of where they stood, when manitoba saw mal he just froze with a slightly scared look but was replaced by anger, making mal uncomfortable. "Mike...get away from him!" "huh?!" The two questioned, manitoba turned from mike to mal… ", you brought something with you! You need to get out…-" "wh-why?" "-NOW!" Mal didn't say another word as he ran out into the hallway in confusion. When he opened the door to his room to take a nap, the room's lights were out, he tried flipping the light switch a couple times but then he snapped his fingers to make them come on...they didn't. He considered the worst but just thought that he could simply sleep with the lights off like a normal person. Not long after he had gotten into the bed he started hearing noises, it was a small room with little furniture making him worried...he dove under the covers like a baby and just closed his eyes tightly. "I'm just a little traumatized... that's all...right?" He heard a small chuckle and shot up from mike's sleeping bag with the sun shining in his eyes, he looked over and saw zoey sleeping in his bed. There was an annoyed look on his face, despite all he's been through he still holds grudges.


	29. Chapter 29 we return to school sort of

It was monday and zoey and mike/mal just got on the bus in the clothes they slept in. Neither said a word about last night as they were pelted with sandwiches and juice boxes. He told zoey to go ahead of him, after zoey got off and another kid was about to throw his own lunch at him, he grabbed his arm and gave him a tight indian burn. "You oughtta think twice before throwing that lunch of yours at me or your gonna really regret it!" He twisted the poor kids arm tighter then put his hand to the kids forehead and made sure everyone could see and slammed it into the window, cracking it. He quickly sneered at the rest of the kids with his hair flap over his eye and everyone just stood and stared in fear. "MIKE! C'MON!" He flipped his hair back up and did mike's voice, "COMING!" He gave one final sneer then ran out of the bus to zoey and they started picking banana peels out of each others hair and laughed together as they walked into the building. After they entered the school the entire bus of kids flooded out. The two sat together but remained silent while they both were thinking about the dramatic events of the night before...though not precisely the same thought, zoey was thinking and blushing at the kiss they shared and mal was thinking about wether he really murdered D or not. During social studies, the teacher had the class watch some videos on the history of America and mal finally had the chance to fall asleep and find out what was actually happening, zoey was too enveloped in the video to notice. Mal found himself laying in the bed in his room of the subconscious, he jumped off the bed and wondered if that was all a dream or not. He couldn't pull up a mirror to tell because he had exhausted all of his power in making the door to get out of the darkness, the room's lights turned on all of a sudden and mal looked around slowly, there was another chuckle and he got afraid again. _Quit bein' such a wuss… 'ya panzie! _Mal gasped and turned to where the voice seemed to be coming from which was the mirror…. There was a light silhouette close behind him and it started to become more and more clear as the outline got distinct, the color showed up, and the face appeared. "BUE!" _YEAH! Don't gotta yell! NOW I see wha' the otha's were talkin' 'bout! _"Huh?" _The otha's! 'ya know, 'ol svet, vito, chester, manny! _Mal looked down when he heard "manitoba". _AYE...wha's wrong? _"Manny…, he said that 'I brought something with me' and apparently that's bad…. Was it you?" At first bue's expression was pity then turned to annoyed and she tried to hit him in the head but her hand went through. _GAAAAHHH! BEIN' ALL 'PHANTOMLY' SUCKS! My body...is still in the darkness so I can't take a REAL physical form! _Bue looked down depressed but then a thesis came to mind and she didn't like it, mal could tell by her see through body that she was upset about something. "Was it what I said?" _Shuddup for a sec…. You DID kill D...didn't you? _"DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM!" Mal yelled impatiently, bue floated back with a worried look on her face. _OK...hold on… _she put her hand to the mirror and showed mal what time it was….on the clock in the classroom. "IT WASN'T A DREAM?!" _NO, GENIUS! IT WASN'T! _"I can't let mike take control this time, I can't be accountable for all the questions that-" _The jerkin' redhead might ask?! _Bue floated over to his left and once again tried to thump his head but failed. _I'm comin' with 'ya so hurry it up an' ge' back in the driva's seat! _Mal grunted, pouted, then snapped his fingers and found himself at the table in class with zoey poking him. He shot up with surprise making zoey fall back then looked around and the classroom was empty. "Sorry" "It's fine, anyway C'MON WE GOTTA GO!" "huh?" She grabbed his hand and the two ran to the cafeteria as fast as they could, mal was confused. When they finally made it, the line had just closed, "MAN! Dang it!" "sorry zo…". "It's fine, let's just go sit down." They did so and they were pelted with food again, zoey tried to ignore it by talking to who she assumed was mike, "so, P.E. is after lunch, we're doin' an obstacle course." Mal's head popped up from the news. "Yeah 'mike', which personality thingy are 'ya gonna switch to? Since we all know you can't do anything on your own!" _Guess he wasn't on the bus was he?...LEMME AT 'IM! _"shut up…" "huh?" zoey and the random boy asked, mal turned back to them with embarrassment. "Oh...umm...well, I'll take you on!...shut up…..". "Why are you telling me to shut up when YOU'RE the one talking! And...I accept your challenge!" Zoey just sat down and listened with concern. Mal seemed nervous all of a sudden, "I'll be right back...just gonna go to the bathroom." "Kay", zoey told him and he ran out. When he made it to the bathroom he made sure to check wether he was alone or not, when he turned around he saw bue in the mirror floating beside him. "What the hell were you doing?! NO WAY! Am I gonna let you take control to a bet I made!" _C'MON! LEMME DO IT! I'LL SHOW THA' LOSA' WHO'S BOSS! _"I don't need 'ya to, nor do I want 'ya to so...DON'T!" _I've been trainin'...you should see how much I can bench press! _"What 'training', I've never seen you work out or anything!" _I trained with…-...uh I mean in the-...". _I DON'T WANNA HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT THAT SOCIOPATH! AND YOU'RE NOT DOIN' THE OBSTACLE COURSE!" He heard someone take a breath and felt a presence as he turned around slightly to see a group of kids with weirded out looks and he gasped with shock. But he recognized the faces, _They're the kids from the bus! _Bue reminded him as he shook his head and his signature hair flap came down perfectly over his left eye and he gave them a dirty look followed by a sneer, they screamed and ran away. He turned back to the mirror and chuckled quietly under his breath along with bue who tried to contain her laughter with her hand over her mouth but then they heard a tiny breath. "Mike?" Mal turned to face the person and it was zoey, when she saw his face, she got scared and stepped back a little. He was stunned, zoey began to hyperventilate and mal saw her about to faint from shortness of air and he caught her.

….SHE was the one with asthma….

He shuffled through her pockets and finally found the inhaler and he gave her the medicine. "So the inhaler WASN'T for mike to stop his transformations. It was...HER'S!...". Mal held her in his arms with a scared and deeply concerned look, his body was shaking with fear for what could happen to her. He lifted her up and ran out of the bathroom carrying her in his arms to the nurse in a panic. Bue just looked down in a little guilt for the insults she said to her. They were coming close to the nurses office when zoey started to wake up, he stopped and flipped his hair up. Zoey smiled and reached her hand toward his hair, when she touched it it fell down but she wasn't fazed nor did she start hyperventilating again, mal set her down and got on his knees with a worried look. Zoey looked fragile and shaky with a weak smile, then she shot up from the ground swiftly as well as mal with a big smile on her face. "Hey! I'm zoey, you're mal aren't you? Nice to finally meet 'ya face to face!" She held out her hand and with the other, grabbed mal's and shook it, mal was dumbfounded. "HUH?! I left you at the bus to get beat up and let you tough out the past week alone, don't you hate me?" Zoey looked to her side with a pause and a focused look on her face, worrying mal. She turned back to face him with a warm smile, "'forgive and forget' my mom says plus...I don't tend to focus much on the past nor hold pointless grudges." Mal slapped his forehead with a frustrated look and zoey was simply puzzled but then giggled and kissed him on the cheek and blushed. She looked away while mal held the side he was kissed on and blushed as well and there was a short pause, bue gagged and a small chill went down her spine. Mal and zoey both simultaneously looked at the clock and gasped, "GYM!" The two said in sync, zoey grabbed his hand again and they dashed to the gym which was on the other side of the school. Mal isn't quite as fast as bue but very close while he felt like they were practically walking, mal took the lead and started pulling HER to the gym. Though zoey knew he didn't know the school all that well so she became the 'map', "LEFT!" And they made a sharp turn, zoey slid but laughed because it was rather fun. "KEEP GOING STRAIGHT!" He did as directed without question and bue giggled a little. "RIGHT!" Zoey slid again with a big smile and a nice laughter, making mal smile to. They finally got to the door and mal piled on the brakes...they both slid and crashed into the near wall with an earthquake like sound and a huge impact, zoey and mal laughed again and got up unharmed with only slightly bruised butts and they ran (at normal speed) into the gym, right on time, in fact….they were early. It was actually the middle of lunch in the cafeteria. The gym teacher saw them when he walked out of the office, "what're you two doing here? isn't it lunch time for your grade?" The gym was completely empty, zoey was nervous trying to come up with an excuse then...mal gasped. Out of habit, zoey quickly went through her pockets for the inhaler but remembered how he'd change to someone else in his mind. A smirk came onto his face and his eyes were gleaming with confidence, zoey was surprised but had a bit of a hunch of who it might be, her suspicions were confirmed when she heard the voice. "Well mate! Sorry if we disturbed 'ya, this lovely sheila an' I just wanted a private place to talk an' we both knew this here gym was empty 'round this time so…-" Zoey once again blushed at the word, "lovely". The gym teacher knew what was going on and decided to let them stay as he went back into his office and closed the door. "Manitoba?" "The one and only!" "Did you REALLY want to talk about something or was it just to get rid of the teacher." He looked away slowly and squinted his eyes seeming like he was deep in thought, before zoey could ask anything manitoba answered. "Mike's fine, you don't gotta worry about that." He looked her in the eye and managed to work a smile, zoey wouldn't fall for it. "But….what are YOU worried about?" He looked surprised, then sighed with a better warmer smile, then he ruffled her hair. "Nothin' just protecting you that's all." He giggled under his breath but zoey looked concerned, manitoba just thought for a little while and there was a small pause before he giggled once more and zoey looked back at him, a little confused. "'ya know…. 'Ya got two others in this head that like 'ya a lot besides me, zoey." She was bright red and looked down as manitoba patted her head and she smiled. She looked back up at him and despite being in a dusty old gym, there was still a scent of blooming romance.

Bue had been sent back to the mind, same as mal when manny took over and she had her hand on the mirror while mal stood beside her and watched, pouting. Bue saw them starting to lean in closer and she turned away with a sickened look on her newly green turned face and got on the bed facing the wall, mal just looked at her reaction and chuckled quietly. _Must be traumatized._

_I HEARD THAT!...,a little bit. _Bue shivered then turned around and out of the bed to face mal, when she did, they were kissing….she ran over to the trash can by his desk and threw up ghost vomit. "Mike told me you two sucked face…". She threw up again. _Yer startin' to sound like __'im__, 'ya little evil! _When mal didn't deny it she got scared then she noticed his shadow behind him. A smile was on it. _Mal….? _Bue asked, his eyes glowed….red, she screamed at the top of her lungs. In the board room everybody heard her and oddly enough, this snapped everyone out of their spells and they ran toward mal's room. Bue noticed the door open and tried to leave but he snapped his fingers and the door slammed shut, she continued moving since she could go through walls with her current form. There was a small flash of light and bue flew back to the bed. _Mal?! MAL?!_ _MAL?!_ She heard the sinister voice coming from mal and another chill ran down her spine. "Nope haha!"


	30. Chapter 30 RIP

_D?! _Bue hesitantly asked, he chuckled making bue even more scared. "OF COURSE! Who else….my dear?" She threw up once more. _DON'T CALL ME 'YOUR DEAR'! _"It's a shame, really, that you've resorted to this form, a ghost, an apparition, phantom. You can't touch anything, eat anything…., punch anything. And not even able to be free, you're stuck here! Doesn't that bug you at all?" Bue slowly floated back with a scared and upset look on her face. "You can't even talk, you can only speak through thought...I'd go mad!" _YOU __ARE__ MAD! _"Now now, let's not be too mean, in fact, you should be apologizing to the person who's gonna help you!" Bue was pissed and annoyed as she started getting over her fear but then something crossed her mind, _Your DEAD body's still in the darkness! How're 'ya doin' thi-? _"I followed him, just before he escaped...I snuck out." _Possession? _"I guess you could say that." _A-and...what about MY body? It's a soulless husk underwater. _"It's protected, you don't have to worry." Bue looked away and was thinking deeply, she floated over to the bed and sat down trying to figure out wether he was telling the truth or not. He suspected this and so, put his hand on the mirror and it showed her the darkness, she didn't look. He flew his hand up and swung it back down, pulling her towards him while she tried to resist. He pulled her chin making her face the mirror so she could see what was really happening, her body was in another forcefield and she sighed in relief. She smiled and D sneered, bue noticed and wouldn't face him. "You're still thinking about that kiss aren't you?" _I'm thinking about how much it disgusted me! _"But you're thinking about it nonetheless, I'm pleased." She jumped back with a quieter shriek and close to the door, D just snickered. Bue looked back at the mirror reluctantly and saw something glowing from her original body. _I-is that…-? _"A fragment of your soul, I put it in there to preserve the body." She walked closer to the mirror for further inspection and curiosity, D predicted as such but she finally came to her senses. _GIVE BACK MAL'S BODY! _"I was wondering when you'd get around to that question." _But….tell me this….why won't you die?! you've been drowned, stabbed…..so why...WHY WON'T YOU DIE?! _"Are you sure you REALLY care to know?" Bue paused then nodded hesitantly. "I'm the darkness….as long as YOU or mal or mike have darkness in your soul….I'LL ALWAYS LIVE!" Bue stepped back slowly. _That explains it…barely. Now then….why do you want me to get my body back?! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TOOK MY SOUL! _He chuckled again with a murderous smile. "I could give you your soul back right here and now if you want?" _And what do YOU get out of it? _D put his hands behind his back and bue stepped back once more, D pulled out a large glowing yellow orb that bue just knew was her soul. When D walked closer to her with the orb out she continued back then, he stopped and she stopped. She was mesmerized and walked forward. "BUE, NO!" Bue whipped her head around, it came from the door, _Mike? _There was a crack in the door for spying. "BUE DON'T! IT'S TAINTED!" _What the…-? _ D was mad. "So what?! It was ALWAYS tainted from the beginning!" Bue looked back down at the soul and saw it was filled with darkness...it merely had a false yellow shine and outline. She was rightly angered after feeling such pity for what he had done to the orb that she once called her own. D put it in her hands by force and her face turned back to it's original form...her evil side. Bue barely had control of her body anymore as vito and mike tried to ram the door but failed each time so they could only watch. D was laughing, "C'mon Buena, let's go home." She was frustrated and with as much strength as she had, she lifted the large black and yellow orb above her head, D was shocked, "Wha-wha-what're 'ya going to do?...buena?" He stuttered nervously, bue looked over to him furious. She concentrated with all her might…. "Y-YOU W-WA-WANT THIS S-SOUL SO B-B-BAD...YOU CAN HAVE IT! IN HELL!" She spoke and with those final words...she threw it to the ground as hard as she could and it broke like glass. Her arms became solid, making mike and the others sigh in relief that they thought she had been freed so with that, she punched D then they turned see through again. Everyone gasped as bue began to fade. D had no choice but to watch in horror, "NOOO!" He ran up and... hugged her one last time...she was surprised but then...smiled. "Thanks...D." She faded away and D fell to his knees, he let the others come in as well but he wouldn't let them see his face. No one moved an inch, they all just stared at D with pity as he quietly sobbed. Then he got up, ignoring everybody else, he started walking towards the mirror which lead back to the darkness. "WAIT D!...that's...mal's body." He glared, "if I can't have bue….I'll gladly settle for mal." Mike ran over to grab his arm, "mal, listen to me! Can you hear me?!" D snarled and took one step through the mirror but the rest of his body was still in the room. He shook his head wildly until he stopped and stared at mike with brown eyes. "MIKE!" At first he smiled then he saw the mirror with mal's foot still in it. "Mal, get away from the mirror, HURRY!" Mal looked over and saw D in the mirror as opposed to his own reflection, he screamed just like bue and D laughed. Then mal just looked annoyed and turned to mike, "so….why isn't the little psycho dead yet?" No one answered. He made the attempt to pull his leg out of the darkness but felt a hand keeping it in place, he got scared again when he frantically looked around and what seemed like one of D's illusions, no one was there all of a sudden. "MIKE?! D WHAT'D YOU DO?!" He stayed silent and he stepped out of the mirror, mal finally had his foot again and jumped back. "What're you so scared of?" Mal didn't want to answer knowing he'd sound like some weakling if he said 'you'. He looked down and saw a broken glassy orb, it was entirely pitch black so mal couldn't tell precisely what it was, D looked down at the orb also and read his thoughts. "It's bue's former soul….. She's dead." Mal was distraught and sickened, he faced D and had murder in his eyes. He was about to charge him until he saw the dark orb turning into black mist that attached itself to the walls making the room darker then it got bigger and was headed toward mal. He ran to the other wall and D walked closer, he went over to the door and tried his best to get it open, both push and pull, concentrated on it to throw off D's spell but nothing. When he rammed it he just got a bruise on his arm. Mal turned around and the minute he did he saw D teleport, he was right in front of his face with a sly grin, mal was shaking and sweating. "Relax, I'm not gonna take your soul." "But you ARE planning to take me back to the darkness aren't you!" D took one step back and chuckled, he had his hands on his stomach and focused as another orb began to form. It was black and glowed dark purple….it was D's soul. "Actually...I was going to let you have mine." "WHAT?! What're you planning?" D inched closer to mal and his dark circles came back, he couldn't tell but he was able to feel like he was changing somehow and pulled up another mirror. His face was turning evil again and he got scared, _What's happening to my body, why's it changing to my evil form? _"'cause you're surrounded by it!" Mal looked around and had hardly even noticed that that the room had become almost entirely black all except for the small space of floor that him and D were standing on, he turned around to bang on the door but it was just another pitch black wall. D put the soul into mal's body, he screamed in pain and fell to his knees. "Now then…., why don't we go home." Mal was half awake, barely conscious, he looked toward his right and saw the mirror leading back to the darkness and chuckled under his breath. "What's so funny?" "Oh nothing….just-" "spit it out!" "I know that there's no point in me going with you, why do you want me anyway?" D couldn't answer. "It's because I'm merely….bue's….replacement, aren't I?" Mal got up and looked at D but with a pitying look. "DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!" He slapped mal while he was starting to get cocky, he laughed some more and his teeth sharpened, this time D smiled. D's eyes glowed red and his teeth sharpened even more, frightening mal. " Apparently I'm not the only mad one here!" He laughed. Mal was getting discouraged and continued to step back then D lifted his arms up and brought 2 mirrors to the surface, despite the distance the mirrors had amplified close ups to show both his and D's faces. They were both sadistic and identical, mal nearly threw up as bue did but swallowed it followed by a gag. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" He ran to one of the walls looking away from the mirrors and D who was snickering, he tried to calm down but just got angrier instead. "What do you want from me?!" "You." D answered bluntly giving mal a shocked look as he started to shake. "You can't take me back to the darkness, I WON'T LET YOU!" D looked down with only a sickened smile visible to mal and moved closer to him. "Get away from me! Stay back!" D teleported again but instead of showing up in a random place he remained invisible until he showed up next to mal and punched him as hard as he could, throwing him into the wall. He staggered but got up just to see D teleport once more and kick him full force in his spine making him hit the opposite wall with huge impact. Mal got up again but this time D didn't teleport, he was just right in front of him. D gave him an uppercut then a Falcon Punch and he toppled over barely moving. He laughed psychotically, "EVEN WITH TWO SOULS YOU'RE PRACTICALLY DEFENSELESS!" Mal got up once again and charged D but he simply jumped out of the way causing mal to fall down again, when he turned over and saw D right above him looking ready to kill his face turned much more fearful than before. He began to crawl back, "coward." Then he turned the full length mirror that mal had originally, around to face him but it merely showed him the darkness, he stepped back again. D walked towards him slowly. "You,...you get the hell a-a-away fr-from m-me, I won't g-go back, y-you can't m-make... me…". He continued back until he was at the wall and there he began to sweat and shake, he looked around but the room was small and D sneered. "If I can't have bue, I'll have you instead, now then...c'mon, you've lost. Now let's leave..for good." "NO! I DON'T WA-" "YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE ANYMORE!" D yelled louder than him as he grabbed him by the wrist frustrated and impatiently, though while he was being pulled up he was being healed. Through the grip D also took back his soul and mal fell to his knees and was knocked out. Just then D heard a loud banging on the wall where the door was, they were right by the mirror so he didn't care...he wanted an audience. 


	31. Chapter 31

Everyone fell over with a large thump, mike was the first to look up and know what was going on. D sneered and mike quickly flew his hand up creating a barrier between D and the mirror, he was absolutely enraged and ran out of the room taking mal with him, mike followed close behind. Vito and svetlana jumped up from the ground while chester was still down and vito helped him up, he just sat down again, "meh...'ya don't need me, just run 'ya little whippersnappers." They both paused then...chester smiled and so did vito and svetlana as they nodded running away. When they got out of the hall to the plain center of the subconscious they both noticed mike battling D since mike had gotten in the way of the second opening. D imagined a machine gun and started firing at mike who amazingly dodged every one like svetlana, then he imagined a bazooka and fired at D who teleported just in time that exploded on impact of the walls causing a huge headache for manitoba who was on the outside and mike who's body really belonged to him. He fell to his knees while holding his head, D took this opportunity and started running he was about to punch him until vito ran in and took the shot for him, bruising his face badly. "V-vito?" "Yeah?...what were you expectin' me to just let'cha take the hit dead on after being down for the count?" He looked away then back with a nice smile. D charged again and vito and mike jumped up and had their fists next to each other as they hit D's face hard, he plummeted to the ground with a nosebleed. He smirked and swiftly moved his legs, tripping them both as they got hit in the exact same spot as him, svetlana grabbed his hand and twisted it back. He flipped her over, landing on vito. "Zat hurt…", "AYE YO! get offa me!" Mike flew up making the two fall back down as he charged D once more and they started hitting and blocking and dodging at what seemed like light speed (picture chef vs. izzy in the episode of tdi where chef was looking for the campers, found izzy in the mess hall and they started fighting.) Vito was stunned, they began adding legs into the picture and ducking and swinging. It was a hard fight as it started getting more violent with knee to stomach hits and slamming each other's faces to the ground heavily. Vito covered svetlana's eyes seeing as it was getting more brutal but he didn't want to interrupt, to a third person's eye view all that could be seen were their fighting silhouettes and the two personalities watching as well as shaking with fear. Mike broke D's nose eventually, svetlana didn't even have to see it to gag at the sound, Mike was bleeding from the nose and mouth and there were bruises all over him same as D. They stepped back, breathing heavily, svetlana decided to help since D was practically done for as she leaped into the air and kicked his face making him fall to the ground, when she turned toward mike he looked back at her struggling to smile and gave her a thumbs up then he fell to the ground, same as D. Vito and svetlana were very concerned at this point, they ran over to mike then mal started to wake up and looked around, worried. He saw mike and got up to run over to him but the minute he moved his leg, he fell over. He turned to see D and he was pissed, his eyes glowed even brighter red than before, he made sure to show his sharp teeth to him and the dark circles weren't even dark but...pure black, mal shrieked, alerting the others. "I WON'T LOSE!" Mal was scared at first as mike tried to run over to mal but tripped, spraining his ankle, vito and svetlana picked him up. Mike couldn't just leave the two, they'd be gone forever, mal looked over at mike with a nice smile. He turned back to D with a bored and annoyed look, but confusingly helped him up. He quickly used his healing powers also walking over to mike and doing the same, D was surprised just as mike only mike was in fear. He looked back at D and started towards him slowly, "D...why are you so bent on revenge?" "Because I...I-" "-was alone." Mal finished for him, he got angry again. "You have bue's short temper." Thinking of bue, D dropped to his knees with his head down intent on not showing weakness to any of them. Mal bent down in front of him and put his hands on his shoulders, D looked up and there was one tear streaming down his face from one eye, this eye was brown like mal's and mike's while the other was still red. "I-I killed her...I let her die and couldn't do anything about it! Dammit!" He threw his punch to the ground making a tiny crater. _Though it kinda WAS his fault, No one else really to blame…_ Vito thought. D got mad again after hearing the thought and the one brown eye turned red again as he glared menacingly at vito who was now shaking, mal glared too since he was coming so close to calming D for real. He got up and was going over to the three who were shaking with scared expressions, all except mike who stayed emotionless. The others were backing away while mike still didn't move a muscle, mal got up and stood motionless same as mike, both were on either sides of D. He was outnumbered, mike didn't move his head but his eyes were in the direction of his other two personalities whom were now holding each other and still shaking, "go". Mike told them quietly but they still heard him, however they remained in place, this time mike turned his head to face them though he looked calm you could tell he was going to snap if they didn't do as he said, his own dark aura appeared. He turned back to face D once more though his eyes still on his personalities, he was getting agitated, "I said...leave…. If and when I need you two as well as chester…, I'll bring you back. Until then...get to safety." "But-" "NOW! I'm not going to lose another one of you guys!" They nodded and ran, D didn't care, _let them leave it's not important or good for them to stay. _Mal told D through his thoughts for reassurance. Mal had come so close to bringing D to his side or at least...let him see his perspective of things. Mike didn't know D very well he simply thought of him as an irredeemable cold hearted psychopath, nothing more other than he's simply another part to his mind only more like the opposite.


	32. Chapter 32 D's backstory, dang it

**D'S BACKSTORY… Can't believe I just said that...**

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D was just...deep in thought and painful memories began to come back as he remembered more clearly what had happened from the beginning:

Thinking that everyone had ganged up on him he was always alone, always shunned and there was no longer any hope for him, he doesn't precisely know why or how he was created but apparently he was born miserable and alone so he created his OWN companions though one…, he accidently gave a true heart and could easily think for himself. Eventually HE turned on him as well and so...he was given amnesia, after seeing this the other friend started to think for herself as well and joined him only she left with her memories and he was once again...left alone. During this time, he simply spent it thinking about why and what to do, he played in his room that he had created, alone. He had plenty of toys, nice ones to! As time went on the toys got...darker, it went from a few teddy bears and firetrucks to putting together jets that actually worked then, he loaded them with small bombs that couldn't do much damage then, small guns to take down the jets then to throwing the guns themselves with great force... damaging the walls and with that he discovered his untapped strength and figured out what his newly found power was, over but a week or two he knew how to control it fully, his imagination. He created cannons, real machine guns, harpoons, missiles, any weapon of war that he could think of...he made with his mind. But when he tried to make real companions again….they were just life-size rag dolls that needed to be stitched up all the time since the stuffing kept coming out, he quickly grew tired of them and hit them with one of his missiles. When they exploded and stuffing flew into the air like snow he thought of doing this to REAL bodies. He never forgot what his former friends looked like but this made him more frustrated and the angrier he got, the 'darker' he became and he _liked_ it. Not long after this, a mirror out of random showed up, it lit the room brightly surprising D and almost..hurting him, he got over it quickly as he turned to stare into the strange foreign object without question. He saw other people that looked just like him only a few minor facial differences and there were 5 of them, they were laughing and smiling together, this confused D since he only knew anger, sadness, and boredom. He thought of these odd people to be 'targets', thinking maybe they could help him somehow, it didn't take long before he had noticed something peculiar, it was what appeared to be a small moving shadow in the distance. It was hard to make out the details. Soon D had finally understood where he was and who those strange people were,...personalities, fake beings created by the illusion of the mind due to difficult stress in certain situations for an extended amount of time. These "Personalities" were made by a boy named mike, a plot formed in his mind while it grew more sadistic. He saw the shadow in the background again only this time closer, at this point he understood how this object worked and he managed to pause it with his imagination and did a close up, the outline was much more distinct and clear, he now knew exactly who that was...it was one of the companions, the one given the name of…bue. The object changed for some reason and he thought it was broken until D looked into it and saw his face, it looked the same as the others that he predicted only HIS was much different, it had dark circles under his eyes he felt the need to check his teeth and saw that they were sharp. The hair flap covering his left eye made him seem mysterious, he approved. When he smiled his eyes turned red, for some reason he felt as though he could see much better and then there was another shadow, he knew this must be his other companion whom he named mal. Seeing the two, a rush of relief came over D knowing they were safe and he grinned but then…, he remembered how they abandoned him and he got mad once more, enraged at their betrayal. He made a decision that day, not for vengeance but for...capture, he would bring his former friends back to the darkness with him and show them what he had suffered and then they could all keep each other company and would never be lonely again. When he was finally able to talk to one of them, it was the one with amnesia the talk that happened was predictable, he had been watching them and played to their weaknesses in hopes of breaking them forcing them to run to their REAL home. He got desperate when these ploys didn't work then…, he was able to...leave, leave the darkness but...not for good. D couldn't stay out for long so he spent his time wisely while outside. Planning, thinking as his strategic mind grew smarter and more cunning. He soon learned he had the power of hypnosis and eagerly used it profusely to get what he wanted. Sometimes the ploys worked sometimes not, but his stubbornness kept him going. All eventually leading up to this.

* * *

**Ploy has kinda been my 'word of the week'...to me it just sounds funny.**


	33. Chapter 33 mike's the leaderfor now

Mal had hatred in his eyes, D sneered, mike was ready to attack and 'get rid of' this being of evil. When mal and mike charged, D merely jumped out of the way as the two bonked heads and chuckled. Mal immediately realized that simple brute force wouldn't do the job at all, weapons are practically useless and shields are too heavy, the lighter the less protection they give. He knew strategy was everything but then remembered his failure last time due to D's powers of telepathy, in fact, D's hearing all of this at the moment. "I CAN READ YOUR MIND WHENEVER I CHOOSE, MAL!" _Just think random thoughts and act at will! _He whipped his head to the side where mike was, "MIKE, THINK OF SOME RIDDLES!" "Wha-" "JUST DO IT! I HAVE AN IDEA!" He had thought of the plan in just a millisecond before D could even properly hear it to react until mal began uttering and thinking random words, "Duckmongoosemonstertruckgrillmedicinetoastdarkhospitalrestbarbequegoodtallyamsaveliquidnessicarrydumbstuckfailyouleftsignloner!" D was dizzy with confusion as mal took the opportunity to open a very small portal to the darkness that he could barely fit through, by the time D noticed mal almost all the way through and the portal began to close behind him, he dove after it but mike blocked his path and the portal closed. D was about to punch mike but he grabbed his arm first and bent it back including an indian burn. When D put his other hand on the what looked like a large black dome with visible purple electricity surrounding it like static and only those born there may enter, an outsider has to be escorted. Though for some reason D couldn't created another portal for himself despite being the darkness HIMSELF! Meanwhile mal was running through a long hallway and oddly enough, mirrors began to appear on both sides and they seemed almost like an animation as though each image was a frame, he chose to ignore as he saw a turn coming up and he started questioning why he was running. He remembered the conversation D had with bue while he was possessed:

_I-is that…-? _"A fragment of your soul, I put it in there to preserve the body."

Mal ran faster, he saw a door and smiled with a laugh out of happiness and excitement. But when he entered, it wasn't what he was expecting; A big octagon room with no doors that'd go further, when he walked nervously inside the door slammed behind him and he tried to remain calm even though he was freaking out on the inside. Looking at all the mirror walls around him they didn't show his real reflection, his face looked calm but...the mirrors didn't, each was the exact same face he'd make when horrified and scared mixed together. He was scared now but wouldn't let it show on the surface, however, the mirrors did. Mal ran back to the door that slammed behind him but there was no knob so he went for the edges and pulled but the minute he tried pushing...the mirror broke, shattered to pieces then all the mirrors broke but when mal looked back at the broken mirrors, they had a different image. Mal, D, and bue, all the mirrors only shattered into the three parts. He heard footsteps coming from behind him and he just knew it was another illusion, there was the feeling that it'd be bue's image but was D's as he walked up to him, mal didn't care anymore. When the fake D came up to him and put his hand on his shoulder, something shocked him and all of a sudden memory after memory began to flood back in. It didn't take long before they ALL had returned and he turned over shaking and horrified, the illusion disappeared and mal just fell over shaking and upset at the things he saw. By the darkness, D started to chuckle until it turned into a simple laugh then became maniacal, frightening mike. He fell down holding his stomach then thought of something quickly and formed a very small seeing mirror only he could see...the portal in mal's bedroom was still open. The second he left the mirror, he bolted to the hallway as fast as he could. Mike didn't run, _"Guys...NOW! He's coming!" _Svetlana heard him and went to the front, ready for D, when he came he just jumped right over her, surprising her then vito was about to punch him in the face, he simply dodged grabbed his wrist and flipped him over. He continued down the hall and was about to make it to mal's room until chester came out of the room and knocked him out with the cane. Everyone looked at chester in shock, THEY couldn't do anything but He could and did. Everyone gathered around the unconscious boy and knew exactly what each other were thinking, mike was the one who broke the silence. "Should we really keep him here or send him back to the darkness?" "Mike...he IS the darkness, if he stays then we're all in serious danger." But mike remembered why they all were hesitating to begin with, "Mal. We gotta wait for him to come back out...though why'd he go in the first place?" "Myeh I bet it had something to do with that bue girl!" Chester finished. It made a lot more sense now, he looked down at D who looked more like a sleeping baby then an unconscious psychotic villain, mike turned to the mirror portal with curiosity. "Take him to the board room, get restraints." They were hesitant about touching the evil little 'thing', mike wasn't looking at them when he gave his orders but since he didn't hear footsteps walking away, he turned to them with a serious glare. They were starting to get a bit scared of mike and immediately picked up D carefully and went toward the board room. He closed the door so he was in mal's room alone with no more distractions and walked up to the full length mirror which had become a portal to the darkness, he wanted to try a few things while he had the time. So mike put his hand on the portal mirror and focused, he wanted to see the outside so he could make sure his body, his personality, and zoey were okay. It wouldn't change, he was getting frustrated but made use of the seeing mirror and decided to find mal who was coming to the breaking point. Seeing this, he decided not to speak to him knowing that his friend could shatter at any moment, if he WERE to talk to him he'd think he was crazy by hearing voices and would freak out at any change of scenery or the appearance of another person growing weary of D's tricks. Mal would lose it so, reluctantly, mike focused the mirror toward a presence that he felt. The scene had changed to reveal a room that seemed familiar to him until he remembered with sickening flashes of small moments he had in there playing through his mind like an old projector. He moved the angles around multiple times then, he felt the presence again, and he saw a body…. "Bue?" There was something above her that seemed to just be hovering, a small yellow dim orb. He thought about jumping in but….saw some tiny rocks float up in front of him realizing that mal must've flooded the place. Mike was wondering what was going on and how she was still technically alive, he had a feeling D was a part of that, knowing his feelings for her. If he couldn't change the mirror to another place besides the darkness then it wouldn't go away and remain an open entry way, he didn't quite have the strength to fix this, knowing it was hopeless he went to check up on the others. Before he could reach for the knob vito talked to him, _MAN WE NEED 'YA HELP HERE, HE'S AWAKE! _Mike sighed in annoyance and boredom as he ran out of the room and down the hall to the board room. There, D was, strapped down to a table but the restraints were breaking. Mike still was annoyed and bored while he calmly walked over to the table, looked at D with cold eyes and put his hand down on the table hard. The restraints went from dark brown to a glowing pink which forced his arms and legs down and they seemed to have a tighter grip than before, whereas they were at the very first buckle which would be the tightest latch but apparently not. Thinking mike was seemingly turning evil, he chuckled, "What's so funny?...", "oh nothing just that you-...WHAT?!" He exclaimed when he saw mike's eyes which, surprisingly were still brown, shocking D. Everyone else was just as surprised thinking that mike's new coming seriousness was turning him bad. "I'm merely being a leader...it's MY mind, is it not?" "HUH?!" Everyone asked in shock, even D who was starting to take over his mind. "But you...you're… only 8, BELOW 10 at the very least and already you-" "No matter what age I am…, you're all still younger than me, it's my mind, my body, and…-" Mike started then paused and looked straight at D, "-My soul!" The whole area was quiet. "I got some knowledge from you guys as well. While D..IS the oldest-" He smirked when he turned to face the rest of them. "-I only learned from him when he first left the darkness...which was a year ago…-", "A YEAR?!" "-Yes, a year, he stayed hidden though for a long time...doesn't mean I didn't see him and picked up a couple tricks by practice and copying, now it's simply observation which doesn't take long depending on how often it's used." D's smirk faded. "And D…, some of those powers you've displayed have been seen so many times that.."._I eventually got 'em down, that's how i communicated with my other personalities though it was a one-way conversation we could still communicate. _Mike told him through thought, surprising D further...he didn't respond. The others couldn't hear him after he stopped talking. "Now...how come I can't move?! Why haven't my powers-", "-been drained." Mike finished his sentence only with his own words, "Huh?" "Those restraints don't repel...they absorb, the more power you use the weaker you'll become." Mike told him. "Sounds kinda like those chinese finger traps." Vito stated, "yeah...somethin' like that." Mike said with a continued bored look, D was getting angry and simply struggled with his own strength instead of resorting to his powers. "I need to go check up on mal, see ya." With that he ran off to mal's room, D smirked. When mike left, his hand was no longer on the table where he was being restrained and the restraints turned back to brown and he knew that their effect had worn off. The minute mike was out the door he forgot about the power he had with the restraints, mike immediately opened the door again and saw D standing so calmly in the doorway acting as though he'd been there for hours, he turned to look at mike and yawned. Mike wasn't afraid though, he simply meant business, his eyes were still brown making D curious about wether mike has some sort of new power. Mike grabbed his hand and they started running to mal's room together, a lot of confusion and questions were running through D's mind.

**It was a little difficult to find a spot to end this chapter since I always type ahead and forget about paragraphs...as you may have noticed, by the way, should bue be brought back or stay dead, I'm at the point in which I could go either way.**


	34. Chapter 34 crying yet?

For some reason the hallway was getting longer and longer, while mike was running he started running backwards to face D. "Are you doing this?!" Mike accused. "No, it must be something else….but it's not the darkness, I can tell 'ya that much." "...also….what happened to my personalities?" "YOU'RE ONLY NOW ASKING THAT QUESTION?!" Mike glared and became serious again, _Tell me now or I'll break your arm… _D was a little fearful when mike started to twist. "Knockout-gas" he told him bluntly, mike turned around with a sigh of annoyance. "LOOK, UP THERE!" D pointed ahead, mike was shocked, the door to mal's room looked as though pure dark was shooting out of it, it looked like a black and purple liquid was flooding out literally like water and it was coming right for them, mike glared at D again. "Wasn't me!" He shrugged in surprise, the odd pool of 'dark' water came crashing down and was moving fast as it almost totally filled the hallway like a large river. This time it was D who started 'participating' as he pulled up mike with one huge jump, almost hitting the ceiling and they froze in mid-air while the river flowed continuously down below them at the same flooding speed. Mike's coolness and leaderly seriousness faded when he remembered what was at the bottom of the hallway, "VITO, SVETLANA, CHESTER!" Mike yelled over the loud crashing, D grunted and snapped his fingers making a huge, thick, fully sealed, metal wall blocking the water but then it started to build up in the hallway and mike and D went to the door. Once they were in the room, mike made the dumb decision by closing the door and so the room filled in seconds, he floated to the mirror unable to keep his feet on the ground and with a red face. D was simply standing by it with his feet firmly planted and showed no sign of him running out of air anytime soon, he bonked mike on the head for his stupid move but then imagined a breathing mask for him. _H-how did you, I thought you weren't able to imagine breathing masks?_

_Jus' did._

_Why aren't YOU running out of air?!_

_I'm the darkness, what more needs to be said? also…-_

_What?_

_Why did you bring me along and leave the others behind?_

_I didn't leave them behind, I just want them to stay safe!_

_Suuuuure...then, what about me?_

_I have an idea and it requires you to help!_

_Why should I?_

_It's about both mal AND..bue._

D looked down worriedly then back up at a floating mike unable to keep his feet on the ground, he yanked him down by his shirt. Close to his face, D asked him "just what kind of idea do you have, hmmm?" He said aloud, though being underwater, mike simply read his lips. "You wanna get bue back don't you?" Mike asked, knowing how deeply D cared for her, though he wasn't lying entirely. D let go of his shirt, mike held onto the mirror for stability then some deformed, half moldy, rotting, bone showing fishes swam near them, scaring mike.

_WHAT THE HECK __IS__ THAT?!_

_Darkness, darkness 'chemicals' you might say._

Mike didn't bother going into details by asking anymore then he turned back to face the mirror, as did D since he had been distracted by mike. They saw bue's body, mike was worried and a little surprised, D had already knew this and was starting to wonder how good mike's plan could possibly be. His suspicions were answered, "OK, I'm gonna go into the darkness and fetch bue's body and bring it back here, then I'll go get mal outta there!" D slowly slapped his forehead due to the water pressure, _there are SO many flaws with that plan...I don't even know where to start! _Mike put his hand to the mirror but was hit with something sharp since his hand began to bleed though the thing that hit him wasn't visible and even in the murky water you'd still be able to see a blade of some sort. D rubbed his chin like he was contemplating something while looking down at the water filled room, then he touched the mirror nothing happened. They both were surprised for...a split second before it made a lot of sense. D IS the darkness while mike's technically a foreigner, _that's right, he needs to be escorted. _He looked at mike and he noticed as he quickly turned his head curiously to face him. _OK, I'm bringing you in WITH ME to the darkness. _D told him, mike nodded then D's face changed (not in the usual evil way) it looked even more serious than mike's. _But listen...whatever you do...DO NOT TOUCH BUE! _D ordered, mike sighed now knowing that D's gonna be the 'general' giving the commands, he was disappointed (being an 8 year old boy, it's pretty cool being in charge). He reluctantly followed orders however, _wait a minute...what'll happen to her? and...what'll happen to me?! I just got shocked and cut from a dark mirror._

_Bue's in a FRAGILE forcefield, I can't hold up forcefields forever._

_That didn't answer the question about me._

_You're simply…not 'dark', mal was the one who mixed the water with a bunch of chemicals._

_Sooooo...what'll happen then? _ D paused, snapped his fingers slowly and mike all of a sudden had a divers outfit on.

_What the-..._

_you'll probably….incinerate, purist…_

_WHA-?! _D pushed him into the mirror and he shrieked, instead of floating like before, he plummeted to the ground. He questioned wether he was in water or not then he looked back toward the place where he came from, the mirror. The room was of course dark and was all stone bricks making it look like a dungeon with no visible chains, on the wall only really high up almost to the 50ft ceiling was a large oval that differed from the entire brutal and gloomy tone of the room since light shined through it similar to a spotlight and there, he saw D shoot out like a torpedo. He stopped short of the other wall and swam down, still in no need of air and landed in front of mike, they both had to communicate through thought now though. They both looked down and saw bue's old body in it's dimming forcefield and the very small yellow orb that was sustaining her floating just above her back and she was face down with gray blank eyes, mike was confused but D was calm. _Mike…, stay here and watch her while I get mal. _D thought, still not looking at mike. _What if something happens and what exactly am I supposed to do?_

_Reinforce the forcefield, keep it going, see how it's fading…- _Mike nodded in understanding and curiosity. _-If the forcefield disappears…-_

_Then bue'll disappear._

_But she was born from the darkness._

_These are some pretty harsh chemicals, mal and I can withstand them but it still applies to any one depending on their strength, these are darkness chemicals so there's no hope for someone like you and your 'happy clappy' side. _Mike was peeved as D taunted so he glared but with still brown eyes, there was a silence in thought between the two of them, the forcefield flashed brightly for a small second, hurting D. _THAT'S SMARTS! _Mike looked at him with concern, _don't gimme that look! I'm fine! _The forcefield, you could barely see it's color but mike knew exactly what to do in his own blind panic. He swiftly put his hands to the barrier and focused, it turned bright blue and looked like a second layer though he wasn't entirely sure if that was good or bad until D sighed in relief and….patted mike on the back, surprising him but he remained focused. _I'm gonna go get mal and bring him back over here, he's probably mad so it might take a while….hang in there! _D swam as fast as he could run so he shot out of the room and closed the door behind him with a flick. Meanwhile mal was in the room of broken mirrors and was shaking in a ball, traumatized. "Why do I always get the bad end of things? It's always ME!" D slammed open the door soaking wet, when he did, the mirrors were restored and showed D's time in the darkness when he was alone and was sickened at the awful memories though he did hear what mal had said right before he walked in. "...YOU ALWAYS GET THE BAD END?!" Mal looked around him and saw everything from the time that he had first left as well as bue and was scared. Seeing the whole thing he became sad and got up, turned around to face D who didn't notice, he was distracted by the mirrors showing him something he reluctantly already knew. He looked down with clenched fists that were beginning to shake as well but then...when he looked at mal he was just worried with the same look mike had. "DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY OR ANYBODY ELSE'S!" Mal ran up and hugged him, D was stunned and frozen. "I'm sorry." D just stood there silent knowing he had more to say. "I'm so so sorry I left you alone." He pushed him away, as he did, the mirror showed the moment D blew up the rag dolls and the sinister look came onto his face thinking evil thoughts, "You never cared about me, I made you and now...you treat me like dirt you little-" _nice_, the mirror interrupted, they both turned around and saw the moment when D saw his evil face, complimenting himself on his own looks, he recalled thinking that it was more befitting for his newly developed character and his own plans. Mal was staring down at his shoes speechless, D got mad and punched the mirror projecting the annoying images, braking it and alerting mal. He ran around the room punching all the mirrors one by one that showed his time in the darkness. Mal couldn't do anything but watch and worry. D made it to the last mirror but...it was different.

…, It showed mal, bue, and D...all...playing together, they had the bodies of 6 year olds. They were laughing, smiling, they played with the fire trucks and bue played with the teddy bears, they pretended that the bear was 'ruler of the trucks' and other times when the teddy bears were lying around, after they all had woken up from a nice warm cuddly bed, they'd make believe that the bears were pistols and fake fired at each other and giggled. They had laughed together so often, it was hard not to remember that, D however, forgot almost all of it especially the laughing. His eyes...turned...brown for the first time in what felt like a million years, mal noticed. They quickly turned red again and he punched the last mirror with all he had and it shattered much louder than the others, when he fell to his knees...there was one big shard that hadn't been broken but merely separated from the rest, mal started to walk up to him but then… the 6 year old face of bue appeared, she was giggling and smiling and her eyes glistened beautifully as they were directed at D….. He punched the shard once more, his knees and knuckles were very bloody, then he got up and turned to mal slowly. Mal saw tears well up, he knew this was the better time to hug him and so he did, D didn't care and...he hugged him back and started to cry loudly with tears streaming down his face profusely(anyone get the reference…*nudges elbows to see if they get it*... "it starts with a B- and ends with -atman), his dark circles disappeared as well as his sharp teeth. There was a pause but not an awkward one, the two stayed silent, _D HURRY! I CAN'T HOLD IT UP MUCH LONGER, I NEED YOUR HELP! _D had forgotten temporarily what he was doing and swiftly let go, alerting mal. _I'm coming! _Mal realized quickly that something was wrong, he only now noticed that D was soaked, D grabbed his arm and they ran out of the room as fast as possible. "WE ARE NEVER TO SPEAK OF WHAT HAPPENED IN THERE AGAIN! GOT IT?!" Mal nodded in question, "WHY ARE WE RUNNI-" They heard the sound of water crashing in and it was getting louder, both of them came to a screeching halt, they were in a pitch black hallway but could see every detail of it perfectly clear. The water flooded into the hallway and was coming straight for them, D swung his hand up at light speed and a dark blue glowing barrier came up though this made his eyes turn red again, mal was confused once more, _but he turned good…_


	35. Chapter 35 SHE LIIIIIIIVES!

_Don't call me 'good', makes me sound pathetic, don't worry about me with those stupid puppy dog eyes, don't pity me EVER, and don't get in my way...especially when I'm working here! _D telepathically told him, they started to push forward as the water made a huge impact D heard mike again, _D, C'MON! I NEED YOU A __LOT__ RIGHT NOW! THE FORCE FIELD'S FADING!_

_I GOT MAL NOW AND I'M HALF WAY DOWN THE HALL SO KEEP FOCUS! _D began to run forward with the great motivation he had, it got to 20 miles an hour. It didn't take long to get to the original room, D stopped the barrier that him and mal had, mal was shocked that he didn't need any air then D grabbed his shirt and yanked him over to the forcefield that mike was barely holding up. He got annoyed and he put his hand onto the forcefield, it shocked him sending a thick and bright electric current into him seriously damaging his right arm, the one he was using. _D! _The other two yelled (thought) in sync. D stumbled but still got up quickly, _I told you not to worry! _Normally this would be said kindly for reassurance but instead simply came out furious, D put both hands on the barrier this time. Being cautious he kept his hands just above the surface but his powers could still work as tiny little bolts of lightning shot out of his hand and the forcefield turned pink, _mike let go! _Mike was confused but did as he asked and it soon turned red afterwards, it grew larger and seemed more powerful. It started to absorb D who wasn't resisting or taking his hands off but stayed focused instead while mike and mal backed away. At this point the forcefield had gotten huge and was pushing against D like a balloon inflating, soon he was completely engulfed and was out of sight, all they could do was stare in fear but then they noticed that D was simply inside the forcefield now with bue. The two boys tried to ram into the forcefield with D but were bounced back. D got on his knees that were still bleeding, he didn't notice, he put bue's small soul back into her body and it looked a little more rejuvenated but the eyes didn't change. Mike and mal walked a little closer to get a better view and saw that bue hadn't changed but then noticed D with his hands on his stomach and they knew what he was going to do. _D DON'T DO IT! IF YOU GET RID OF YOUR SOUL, YOU'LL DIE! _D heard them but paid no attention, he knew what he was doing and so… a...small glowing orb came out, it was a FRACTION of HIS soul. When mike understood what he was doing he got fearful, mal heard his thoughts and became worried too. _STOP! Bue'll turn...evil _Mal said speaking with experience, this time D looked behind him but with a glare. "It's a fraction, mix it with her soul and she'll be fine, she's not easily influenced 'ya know!" _Except for your hypnosis…_ Mal thought sarcastically but D got mad again as his eyes glowed a much brighter red. He put the soul into bue and waited, _NO! _Both mal and mike thought. _SHUT UP!_D yelled (thought) at them both and a small chill went down their spine. Bue's eyes changed to brown and D smiled, his smile faded when nothing more happened. He waited and waited, mike was getting tired same as mal while D remained motionless then mal had another idea when he started to piece a few things together, this allowed him to enter the barrier which surprised D. Mal got down beside bue and across from D to show him what he was doing, he put his hands to his stomach like D did and another small glowing orb came out which he then gave to bue, D didn't stop him in desperation. Her eyes closed and D looked sickened and afraid, but then they reopened. She blinked a couple times until she shot up like a spring though her eyes were still blurry from being out for so long, she kissed mal on the cheek, making D slightly jealous. Bue was going to kiss him on the cheek same as mal but then he turned his head around so she kissed him on the lips, it was only THEN that her vision came back and she saw who she was kissing and shoved him back with a gag but mal still looked away in embarrassment and D blushed anyway, mike stared at them with a smile while in awe at what just happened...then she punched them both and mike slapped his forehead. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" They both yelled in question, bue was dusting herself off as she got up off the ground, "IS IT SO HARD TO JUS' LET A GIRL RES' IN PEACE?!" They'd almost completely forgotten about her bizarre accent and they both laughed as they wiped their bloody noses due to the punch, bue had said this with black eyes then they turned brown once more and helped them both up at the same time with her immense strength. "Now then… 'ya think 'ya can handle the dark chemicals, after all you DID just wake up?" D asked, she slapped him and he took it as a 'yes' then snapped his fingers and the barrier disappeared, none of them still needed air. Mal took mike's hand and the four of them swam to the top of the room until they reached the mirror and got sucked back into mal's room like a vortex.

They flew into the room with a huge crash and each hit their heads on something hard, "OW!" They yelled at once though only bubbles came out of their mouths, D snapped his fingers and the murky disgusting darkness water flowed out of the hallways and into the room back to the mirror. They were all covered in scum, bue had the rotten fish in her hair and shrieked like a sissy, mal had to painfully pull it out since it's teeth had sunk into to the locks. D waved his hand over bue's body swiftly and she was clean and dry, he did this to mal to. Bue snapped her fingers and the bed became larger with fluffy blankets and she hopped right on and was about to fall asleep until mal started shaking her. "Cut it out!" "Just keeping you awake for safety's sake." Mal told her, she understood but first she had to punch him for shaking her. Mike giggled a little as well as D until he realized, "OH I GOTTA CHECK UP ON MY PERSONALITIES! BE BACK LATER!" And mike ran out before anyone could respond, leaving the three in an awkward silence.

* * *

**I**** chose live since I got nothin' from you guys...anyway i plan on 2 to 3 more chapters for the end of the story. Hope it wasn't too long so, "happy reading". Maybe 4-5 if i include a bonus chapter to list all the references i made.**


	36. Chapter 36 an unexpected meeting

~SCHOOL! It's been awhile huh~

All the kids had rushed into the gym at this point and were doing warm ups, whenever zoey looked at manitoba she blushed, same goes for him. Though zoey was starting to get worried about how long manitoba was in control so while they were doing jumping jacks zoey had ran next to him to do it. "Manitoba, where's mike?" Manitoba looked her straight in the eye, reluctantly and there was a pause,frightening zoey as she assumed the worst. But when he was about to speak he was interrupted by the gym teacher as he yelled at the top of his lungs the change in exercise, "SIT UPS!" It made everybody's ears bleed with how loud his voice was, though now he had a chance to tell her, "mike's fine 'ya don't have to worry-" "EVERYBODY LINE UP!" Zoey, manitoba, and several other kids held their ears and did as they were told and awaited further orders from their 'drill sergeant'. "Alright, get into partners-" manitoba linked arms with zoey, "-and get into 4 separate lines-" they did so quickly, "-go in clockwise order from obstacle to obstacle, starting at the rope climbing for team 1, teams 2-4 go with the rest in the order they're set up. Okay?" "Yeah!" The class yelled excitedly, _that rope climbin's gonna be a breeze! _The other spots were jumping, crawling under other ropes, hurtles along with balance beams. Meanwhile inside the subconscious, bue, D, and mal had pulled up another mirror and were watching the outside to check up on things. "Sounds fun, be' I coul'do the hurdles AN' the rope!" Bue bragged, sitting criss-crossed with her chin on her hands looking bored, same as mal who blew up his hair flap constantly, D had his legs straight with his arms behind him holding up his back and he yawned. "Well I KNOW I could do the hurtles and crawling under the ropes looks WAY too easy…-" "Well I know for a FACT that I could do ALL of them!" The three were in a triangle formation and bue was in front, she turned around and saw the two snickering and bue chuckled a little. "Who wan's to go firs'?" She sneered and stood up, mal and D were making the gestures saying "go on ahead". She jumped into the mirror so, on the outside manitoba gasped, zoey turned around to face him with slight worry, she's gotten into the habit of pulling out the inhaler but resisted whenever memory serves, "mike?" "...bue…" she answered quietly so no one but zoey could hear the feminine voice. "..bue…" zoey repeated with worry and question, she was curious to see what this personality's talent was. "READY?!-" They all got into a running stance even though it's not precisely a race, bue sneered at zoey, "keep up if you can." She sneered back, "heh heh, funny, that was going to be MY line!" Bue was surprised, in her mind D and mal had their jaws dropped and manitoba had just appeared in the room taking bue's place. He was going to comment on what had happened but the minute he got there D just pointed at the mirror and his jaw dropped as well in wonder about what bue might do. So the whole room was silent(which wasn't much to say considering the room's size and there being only three occupants). "SET-" Bue and zoey had their hands on the ground ready to launch off, "GOOOO!" The two 'girls' leaped into the air in sync and did 3 flips while up and in the bright light from the ceiling, blinding the kids who were curious to see what they were doing while frozen as they landed on the ground with an impact, they looked at each other and at that moment realized they were going to be competing against each other instead of simply being partners taking turns. Only once they were at the third station did the gym teacher snap out of his own awe, "WHAT'RE YOU WAITIN' FOR, GO!" This scared most of the kids since they were so entranced and surprised. Zoey and bue continued doing flips and cartwheels, they shot through the crawling obstacle. the obstacles were kind of far apart and so they ran their usual speed while facing each other. D, mal, and manitoba were just stunned at how athletic both bue AND zoey are, but then mal saw zoey cough and she did this a couple times until she finally pulled out her inhaler. Though she wasn't looking where she was running and hit her face on the hurtle and the inhaler fell out of her hand, braking on the ground, this time bue noticed. She stopped as zoey began to hyperventilate, she fell to her knees holding her chest tightly while one of her lungs ached from working so hard and the other became paralyzed. Mal jumped through the mirror in panic and worry for zoey, bue was thrown out and hit her head on the desk. Her eyes turned black, and she held her fist in the air and pointed at the mirror, "I'LL GET 'YA FOR THA' MAL!" She decided to lay down on the floor and just rubbed the bump. Mal lifted her up so she was in his arms, her fall didn't hurt her head and he called out for a nurse, this made everyone come to a total halt and crowded around them as a couple kids got down and tried putting the inhaler back together. There wasn't a lot of time for them and it wouldn't hold, the gym teacher was in his office after he had ordered the kids to get moving so he didn't hear a word outside. Then a girl shuffled her way through the crowd and even for her age she was still short and looked rather fragile, she had on a dark green long sleeve turtle neck knee low dress, purple leggings, and tiny black flats, with hair so blonde it was almost white, and for some reason was carrying a black trash bag. She put it down and picked up the broken inhaler, she cupped it in her hands and a tiny glow came for a split second and it was fixed, she immediately gave it to mal and he gave zoey the medicine. Normally the girl was bullied, saying she was crazy, hearing voices, seeing auras, playing with spirits. A few kids patted her on the back just as zoey came to, she shot up making mal fall back and the other kids cheered. An awkward moment came when they all heard another voice louder than all of theirs coming from behind them, it was another girl jumping up and down in excitement, "I WON I WON!" She was at the finish line. Wearing a light green tank, a green skort, green flats, and bright orange curly hair tied into two ponytails that bounced the same way. She tended to talk in 3rd person and was already dubbed as nuts to the rest of the grade. D and manitoba still had their jaws hanging, bue pushed up D's to close his mouth and thumped his head to snap him out of his shock, she didn't bother with manny though. Right after she did, she fell asleep, D noticed, though getting a little paranoid decided to check her pulse, it was fine and so he picked her up and carried her to the bed when he noticed the bump and laid her head on the pillow. "I wonder if the reason she kissed me and mal was because of our souls being in her, might have some kinda effect." "Naw...I jus' wanted to than' 'ya guys for helpin' me." She answered slowly and groggily as she turned around to face the wall and pulled the blanket over her. D smiled and went back over to mirror, mal was thrown out and landed on him with a big crash. "OUCH!" They both yelled in sync then they heard mike and knew he'd taken control. D yawned out of the excitement being gone and mal was thinking deeply, he looked away but when he looked D could tell he was nervous about something, _he's probably afraid of what mike's gonna say….man. _Mal got up and clapped his hands in front of manitoba's face, waking him up after the shock he had witnessed. He shook it off and sat criss-crossed on D's right while mal was lying down on his left staring at the ceiling. D turned around to look at the full length mirror to the corner of the room and it was still darkness but then it seemed to be 'spreading', it began pouring through at the bottom of the mirror like fog. There was a small snap from behind him, he whipped his head around and saw a sleeping bue snapping her fingers repeatedly most likely due to the kind of dream she was having, when he turned around the mirror had become a frog. Bue snapped her fingers again and the desk was turned into a marshmallow, the frog jumped onto his head, he tried hitting it off but each time his hand came up the frog would jump above it and land back on his head with a _ribbit_ each time, he was frustrated but eventually decided to leave it be. Manitoba turned around to see D pouting, arms crossed and a frog ribbiting on his head, he chuckled then it turned into full on laughter. D's eyes started glowing crimson as he snarled at manitoba, then bue snapped her fingers again and duct tape came across his face and D chuckled, now ignoring the frog. He imagined a slingshot when the frog ribbited again, getting frustrated, bue snapped her fingers twice, the slingshot became a rose and the frog turned into a crown. D giggled now realizing that she was having a "Fairy Tale" dream, he kept on snickering, "I bet she's dreaming of being 'Princess Buena'. It's too hilarious!" _Heh heh, guess __I__ know what game bue's gonna be wanting to play when we go back to the darkness._ Bue woke up to that sentence and her eyes became brown, _I can't believe I forgot 'bout that…. I don't wanna leave. _She started shaking slightly.


	37. Chapter 37 smarts over hypnosis

D heard this and his eyes turned red. _Seems YOU'RE starting to adapt to the environment here, a little too well...bue…. _Bue was very afraid, she wanted to stay with all her friends...and...with the light. D was furious at this, hearing these thoughts he assumed bue was going to betray him again to remain on this side, but then he had an idea. He snapped his fingers and a small mirror appeared in front of bue, he waved his hand up and her face started turning evil. She got angry and flipped over to face him instead of the mirror, she wouldn't fall for his tricks. When she got up, yawned, and finished rubbing her eyes, she noticed there was a crown on D's head and he was holding a rose and the desk was a giant marshmallow, bue froze with a huge blush of embarrassment. D blew his hair flap up and chuckled slightly then snapped his fingers and gave bue a tiara, she could tell what was on her head but just blushed more, "so...princess buena, I'm guessing this is the game you're going to prefer when the THREE of us return?" D had the cockiest grin on his smug face, she snapped her fingers and returned the room to normal but the tiara stayed. The two had entirely forgotten that manitoba was still in the room, leaning against the wall eating popcorn, obviously amused with the show. She got out of the bed, took off the tiara and threw it at the wall, D had to duck, the sharp end of it let it hold and she smirked. "I don't dream o' that….it was merely a...side effec' from bein' dead fer so lon'...yeah!" Bue had her hands on her hips, looking away from D with a pout and a blush. D chuckled and manitoba laughed through the duct tape, bue kicked him in the shin, "come now, a princess shouldn't be so violent...haha". D continued his laughter, Bue flew her fist directed at D to punch him and make him shut up but he grabbed it before it could hit his face. "Though 'ya know...I'd be glad to be the prince charming…". She gagged once again and flew another punch that would be an uppercut, he grabbed it as well and moved it down pulling her closer to him. Manitoba was leaning forward now, ignoring his heavily bruised shin with the suspense. _I could see svetlana rooting for a kiss right about now. _Bue whipped her head to face him, "DON'T YOU GIVE HIM ANY IDEA'S!" Manitoba rolled his eyes and ate some more of his popcorn then he noticed mal sleeping on the floor by the desk, _oooooh...so THAT'S where he was! _D was about to slap his forehead but of course he couldn't let go of bue's hands. D started to lean in closer to bue who kept trying to tilt her head back as much as possible, then, just as their lips were about to meet… two hands clapped together instantly cut between them, it was mal and he managed to separate the two completely, bue fell on her butt near the trash can behind the desk, while on the right, D was at the wall right underneath the tiara that bue had thrown. "Thanks-", bue looked at mal with relief, "-FOR NOTHIN'!" She yelled, looking at manitoba who looked away quietly and ate his popcorn. Another pause came about then bue hopped up and summoned a mirror in hopes of getting rid of the slight awkwardness. It just showed mike and zoey sitting next to each other writing down notes from on the board, she changed the angle to see the board and it filled up the entire thing, bue just turned from bored to annoyed and snapped her fingers so the mirror would disappear. She wasn't facing the others as her face became bright red from her failure, "I'm bored...how long are we stayin' in here?!" D's head popped up, when bue heard his thoughts her eyes bulged out of remembrance and fear while she got into a ball. Mal heard them to! _"I thought you'd never ask…". _The two were afraid and shaking, manitoba had forgotten that they were going back to the darkness though clearly they didn't want to go, then mal thought of something. "I'd like to say bye to mike first if we're go-" "-WHEN we go!" Mal put his hands behind his back with an innocent look, not facing D, bue got up and stood by mal. "I guess we'll jus' have to wait 'till night for 'im to fall asleep, 'till then, how 'bout I go say g'bye to the otha's." Without asking D's concent, she headed to the door but then with an annoyed face heard mal's panicked thoughts, _DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH HIM!_

_Aye...hehe, 'ya got manny...you'll be fine… _She reached for the knob, D knew what she was planning of course and without mal seeing his face, he smirked. Bue was getting nervous quickly and ran out so fast it almost seemed like D's teleportation. Once she was in the hall, instead of running she was walking very slowly, the hallway was mucky and slimy on the walls, the ground was slightly uneven so there were puddles, the ceiling dripped like a cave. The hallway was similar to dungeon walls; stone black and gray bricks, the ground was that of an old fashioned road with the oval like shaped stones all packed together making the ground bumpy and slippery, it had the eerie vibe of a silent swamp in the middle of the night with no moon. At this point, she was expecting an owl to 'hoo'. As she continued down the hallway, it seemed endless whereas the other day it was only about 30-45 max feet long. "I bet D did this...or…." _"Mal was the one who flooded the place, not me" _She remembered D saying this. Meanwhile the others, in the board room were just sitting at the big table in the center, they knew D wasn't in the darkness since they all had recently checked, via, mirror, it was obvious he was on their side but he hadn't really bothered them. They all were thinking the same thought, _maybe he's gone good. _The huge clash of dark water running through the hallway never made it to them nor could they recall about being knocked from the gas that D had imagined. Bue was reading their thoughts and got mad but then she heard vito's thoughts, _I hear footprints…_ this made her smile, she was close, though for some reason still didn't want to run. Then she stopped and pulled up a clock, it was almost 7, she shrieked quietly and started running, stepping in puddle after puddle with a big splash, without socks and only flats, her lower legs and feet were soaked and muddy. She stopped when she noticed the hallway getting longer and couldn't hear the other's thoughts anymore, similar to a signal falling out of reach. In the room, D was tempted to just throw manitoba through the mirror to take control, sending mike over here so mal could have his goodbye quicker, with just the snap of his fingers he could bring bue and everybody else back here. Though deep down, he didn't want to really break that tiny promise he'd made to wait until nightfall for mike and let bue say her goodbyes, he couldn't let their return start off sour, making it up to them would just be…. D stopped in mid-thought as his eyes faded to brown. He decided to snap his fingers, bue was teleported to the board room where the others were then flew up a mirror for reassurance on bue's behave. Bue was surprised, _...D…._ She had a smile as she ran up to the big table, "GUYS! IT'S AWESOME TO SEE 'YA AGAIN!" Chester twisted his finger in his ear, "WOULD YOU QUIT YOU'RE YELLING,...what're 'ya doing here anyway?!" "Well I-" "WHY are 'ya here?!" Vito rudely asked. "W-well I wanted to-" "AND VHAT MAKES YOU SINC ZAT VE VANTED YOU HERE?!" Bue stepped back, _ol' svet's got no right in this conversation anymore…! _"Quite the nerve 'ya got there!...where'd 'ya get it? probably from the easily influenced idiot store near the hypnosis ile! Am I right D?!" "There's no D here… just us…". Bue was getting stubborn, "you're tryin' to make me scared with some discouragin', let me tell 'ya something...IT WON'T WORK THIS TIME!" Vito got mad now, he got up and grabbed her wrists and threw her against the wall. "YOU'VE DONE THIS ILLUSION BEFORE,...heh, you're losin' you're edge, I don't fall for your idiotic hypnosis or your stupid influence!" Vito ran straight towards bue with his fist tightly clenched, bue ducked quickly as vito hit the wall making a small crater. She did a summersault due to little room for escape then turned around fast to hopefully catch a glimpse of red crimson eyes saying that this wasn't their fault but...they were brown. Bue gasped as vito came at her again, she leaned back far, her hair at the ground as he threw his punch barely missing her by a strands distance from her nose. Her hands hit the floor beneath her, flat, she was in an arch formation. Vito was about to elbow her stomach but she kicked her feet up into the air hard, hitting him across the face with a muddy shoe. She fell on her tush and looked back at the others, they had annoyed faces obviously bored with the show seeing lack of bruises other than vito's, eyes still brown. "Y-you guys...aren't hypnotized? D didn't do anything?...". They stayed silent with bored and annoyed looks, _I thought she'd get the message by now.. _Vito sarcastically thought. Bue was beyond pissed but calmed down with a cocky grin, "oh please...do go on." _She's got quite the pea sized brain only much smaller. _Chester stated (thought...same thing at this point). _Vhy iz a girl of darkness in such a pure place vhere she CLEARLY doesn't belong?! _Svetlana thought. Bue looked down with clenched fists and chuckled, confusing the others, she snapped her fingers and pulled down the mirror that D had transported with her. "They're fakes! They aren't even able to thin' normal thoughts, those guys AREN'T mikes personas!" She gave him the smuggest grin and he stood shocked and dumbfounded. D laughed playfully, "wanna play detective when we head back?" Bue's face changed from smug and arrogant to grumpy and annoyed, she pulled up a clock and it was nearly eleven, if she were a piece of glass she'd be a shattered pile on the ground. Unable to move and being frozen with shock, bue snapped her fingers in an attempt to get rid of the mirror but it just stayed though, still got rid of the clock. She turned back to face him, "have I ever told you that you're as beautiful as a blossoming rose when you're mad?" For that, she ran up to all three of the fakes but when she kicked them all at once they turned into dark mist, her eyes were black and the dark circles returned. She stomped her foot on the ground heavily with a tantrum following as she punched the wall making a much bigger crater than fake vito's. "Quite the anger 'ya got there-" "I'LL BREAK 'YA IN HALF!" She ran to the door leading out but remembered the mucky hallway, and so, with a pout she snapped her fingers and created an umbrella. "I'd recommend cooling down.." D snapped his fingers and it started pouring, bue imagined black rain boots while the dark circles faded but the black eyes stayed seeing as how annoyed she was with D. "Where's mal? Isn't he in the room?" "He's sleepin'". He answered bluntly, bue blew her damp hair flap up. "Why's he so tired, did 'ya do somethin' to keep 'im quiet?...an' would'ya jus' snap 'ya finga's an' teleport me into the room?!" "Why when you're already here?" Bue turned her head away from the mirror and saw the door, she no longer needed an umbrella so it disappeared with a poof. When she opened the door, it looked like the normal room, D was in the center holding a rose, her annoyed face didn't change but she did blush seeing the nice flower. D walked up to her, put the rose in her hand, and kissed the other hand. She blushed even more, this time her face changed to surprised and she quickly looked away, _GYAAAAH! It's just like in those stupid commercials, WHY AM I SO EASILY SWAYED?! _Of course, D sneered. He was at the doorway when bue showed up, when she walked in the door closed behind her to show a full length dark….mirror.

**I get that this chapter was particularly long but it's hard to find stopping points sometimes.**


	38. Chapter 38 D, the smooth talker

"The room's different." Bue stated simply, "how so?" D was getting nervous as he choked on his words. She hit him on the head, D expected her to stomp on the flower but instead she put it in her pocket carefully, this made him smile but bue was still angry. She looked around, now fully realizing where she was, lost her train of thought. "It feels nice in here...even if it IS the-". D looked back at bue in curiosity for what her next few words might be. "Is mal still on mike's side?" She asked, D nodded then pulled up a clock and it was midnight. Bue pulled up a mirror and it showed mal in the regular room talking with mike, "s'bout time, he'll be here soon-" "-or else!" D finished bue's sentence. Bue was feeling a little uneasy then D snapped his fingers and a full moon appeared. It was a very romantic atmosphere, bue turned around to hide her face immediately with a small blush. "The moon is nice…" She said trying not to face D in suspicion of his old tricks, "yes it is….-" The pause indicated that he had more to say, she got nervous again. "-what do you think of me?" She whipped her whole body around to face him in an instant. Frozen, she struggled with her speech, "w-what do I thinka' 'ya?...a-a-are 'ya serious?" D stayed silent knowing his body language alone could tell her. She gulped, wanting to joke around, would've said "you disgust me, 'ya slimy little toad"...but she remained silent also. It was a full moon and the stars shined brightly, though fake, still set the tone and the scent of the rose in bue's pocket became just a bit stronger. With the silence, bue was surprised that D wasn't getting impatient with her. He looked serious but it still felt 'warm'. _He sure knows how to plan a perfect scene...__that's__ fer' sure...he's not makin' a move either! I jus' don't know what to say…. _She couldn't help but blush at the wonderful view, she spun around taking it all in. _I can hardly believe we're in the darkness...did it always feel this...kind? _D faced bue with a smile when she stopped spinning right in front of him and she smiled too. "I think...you're awesome...and charming…". She gave him a kiss on the cheek, in D's mind, fireworks came. Then mal fell in...literally. They were in the room that bue had been 'brought back', with the portal through mal's mirror. He had crashed in and landed hard, D wasn't too happy that he interrupted them. Mal looked up and his jaw dropped, _bue….kissing...D?! _Bue turned towards mal and saw him so shocked, she was firetruck red from the embarrassment. She walked over to mal, grabbed his hand, yanked him up to his feet,...slapped him, then dragged him over to D, and grabbed HIS hand. They started heading toward their hallway, where at the end of it lies their room. Mal was hesitant until bue let go of their hands to face them, "Im'ona be the ruler o' the teddy bears!" Bue told them with a smirk as though they have no say in her position of playing authority, D smirked and flew her hair up making it completely engulf her face until she was blind. Mal giggled a little, "haha, yeah, you wish, I'm gonna be the supreme master of the trucks!" Bue laughed as well as D. "Wanna race, here, lemme make it more fun!" D snapped his fingers and the hallway became a skating alley, bue and mal and D all had on roller skates, they were at the entrance to the hallway so there was plenty of room to skate. Mal sneered at D with his smugness then the three got in position, "READY SET GO!" D yelled fast and they all took off going at their 30+ miles per hour speed, and laughing all the way. As they flashed down the hall, bue seemed to be showing signs of her evil self awakening, she didn't notice since she was laughing from how much fun it was simply to skate. Mal was getting worried but then thought about how this is their TRUE form, _it's the darkness, what's the point in hiding anymore? _He laughed too whenever bue tumbled a little and D caught her. D looked over at mal suspiciously and squinted his eyes, _THIS far into the hall and his eyes still haven't changed?! _Mal tried his best to ignore that thought then noticed bue's eyes turning red and went from red to crimson with the dark circles as well as the sharp teeth returned. D pulled out the rose from her pocket, mal was stunned and forgot what he was doing and tripped, bue and D stopped. They picked up mal, and bue jumped in between them hanging her arms over their shoulders, she almost fell again and they both caught her this time, the three just skated away down the hall while bue blushed, D smirked, and mal giggled.

Meanwhile, mike was sitting on mal's bed in his room though he wasn't sobbing or mad but...annoyed. Thinking about his last words and his goodbye; "_I'm finally headed to the darkness…" "but...you can't! It just won't work!" "It's simple…, I'll be back you don't have to worry." "But what if you get trapped! I don't like risks!" "It's my plan and I'm sticking to it, you're not gonna stop me, sorry."_

And with that he'd jumped into the mirror. Then everybody crashed into the room since it looked like they were running real fast, they had some rope around their shoulders and some on their hips, they were loose and parts of it had been sliced. Manitoba was holding his pocket knife, the rest of them had some duct tape on their cheeks or red marks in it's shape around their mouths. "Are we too late?" Manitoba asked out of breath, he nodded and the others gasped with concerned looks then svetlana ran over to him, "it's all right, mal's back where he belo-" "-HE DOESN'T BELONG THERE! HE SHOULD BE HERE!" Svetlana stepped back in surprise for his sudden snap, he wasn't known for being too impatient but she understood knowing the trouble he was going through. Manny and vito patted him on the back, chester ruffled his hair and they all left the room since it would just keep mike from getting over it, manitoba limped out due to shin trauma from a certain violent feminist girl with an odd accent that no one could describe. Mike told them he would take control and so he walked down the hallway alone, as he did, it went from murky and slimy to it's usual hotel like space with lamps lighting the walls brightly, it's light blue walls and green carpet making mike feel odd at how different it seemed since he'd grown so used to it being so creepy. He made his way out and summoned a mirror to take control, he went through it and woke up in his bed. His mother was up startlingly late watching tv on the couch with a bowl of soup by her side, mike checked the clock beside his bed and saw that it was 3:46 AM. When he went to go check up on his mom, she was actually out cold her soup have eaten, her eyelids were red as well as her nose and he noticed many tissues surrounding her soup on the table in front of the television. She was sleeping, yes, but when mike got a bit of a closer look originally thinking she was just sick, saw a tear stream down her face slowly and he heard her mumble some words in her crying induced coma, "sweetie...don't do it...no, don't...hurt...'im...don't." Another tear came down, _it was harder on her than I thought, I'm sorry for making you worry, mom. _He kissed her forehead, pulled the blankets up and went to put away the unfinished soup bowl but when he picked it up, the spoon clang against the rim. She woke up immediately and for a split second thought she saw a hair flap over his left eye, believing it was mal, but she quickly rubbed her bloodshot eyes and saw it was her real son, mike. Mike just stood there holding the soup bowl, frozen, his mother saw and was shocked and embarrassed that he had to see her like that. "Mommy?" This snapped her out of her slight daze from waking up when she heard him say 'mommy', _my son almost never says...mommy…_, chills came over her when she remembered the scene of the 'incident' in the kitchen from what would almost be two weeks ago, that was when she first came face to face with..._him_…. "M-michael?" "Yeah?" "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." "For what? I'M the one giving you this grief I should be the one apologizing, not you! I've been a real pain the butt lately haven't I? Giving you this huge burden and stress about my well being." She looked down then back up with a smile, "'ya don't have to worry, I'm fine, I can take on anything you throw at me!" She told him, rolling up one of her sleeves and flexing her small arm muscles and pretending that they're body-builder size, mike giggled and she ruffled his hair. He still felt the enormous weight of guilt on his shoulders though for putting his mother through such torment just for his sake, he looked back at her with a smile, both showing their tough faces but on the inside were shivering with fright, neither one was ready to let the other see them look weak. Mike set the bowl in the sink, since it was awfully late he told his mother that he'd be glad to do the dishes tomorrow so she could get some rest and she smiled in appreciation for her kind son. They walked down the hall together but before going their separate ways, hugged and said goodnight with a warm smile on both of their faces then went to their rooms and fell back asleep. Mike's personalities flew down the seeing mirror and went THEIR own ways as well each headed to their room, yawning with no end until they all collapsed onto their beds and were knocked out instantly, all having peaceful dreams in comfy beds which at this point felt like heaven from being away from them for so long. Though, unfortunately, mike was having an awful nightmare. It took only about 10-13 minutes before he shot up from his in a cold sweat, he had recalled his mother saying that he could sleep in her bed if anything happened in his mind or if he had a nightmare making him stressed. He lifted the blanket, opened his door, straight across from it was his mom's and the door was open as if she had been expecting a child wake up call. So mike walked in, crawled into the bed and snuggled against his kind warm hearted mother.

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**Funny thing is, he's 8 but still mature enough to not only fight off an evil that dwells within his mind but also have a girlfriend. It's interesting, but I just felt there needed to be at least SOME romance despite age.**


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